RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Producer Price Index increased 8.5 percent year on year in June, driven by higher prices in the manufacturing sector, official data showed.
Manufacturing prices rose 9 percent, while prices in the electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply sector increased 2.4 percent, according to a report by the General Authority for Statistics.
The report added that prices for water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities rose 7.9 percent in June compared with the same month a year earlier.
The producer price data comes as Saudi Arabia’s broader inflation environment remains relatively stable compared with other Gulf economies. Consumer prices in the Kingdom rose 1.8 percent year on year in July, remaining below recent inflation readings in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, where price pressures have generally been higher.
In the latest report, GASTAT stated: “Manufacturing prices increased by 9 percent, driven by higher prices for manufacture of refined petroleum products 13.2 percent, the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products 14.4 percent, the manufacture of food products 4.6 percent, the manufacture of basic metals 8.4 percent, and the manufacture of wearing apparel 14.3 percent.”
