Rising food prices drive accelerated inflation in Albania in September

Rising food prices drive accelerated inflation in Albania in September
By bne IntelliNews October 10, 2021

Albania’s annual inflation accelerated for the third month running in September, to 2.5%, statistics office Instat said on October 8. Month on month, consumer prices rose by 0.5%, also accelerating from previous months. 

Rising food and fuel prices, part of a global phenomenon as economies recover from the coronacrisis, have sparked protests in recent days, with demonstrators calling on the government to intervene. 

Higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages were the primary driver of year-on-year inflation in September. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages shot up by 4.6% y/y in September, pushing annual inflation up by +1.60 pp. 

This included a sharp 13.6% y/y increase in prices of vegetables such as potatoes, followed by oil and fats (up 6.6%), bread and cereals (4.7%), fruit (4.1%), sugar, jam honey, syrup, chocolates and sweets (3.3%) and dairy products (2.2%).

There was also a 4.5% rise in transport prices, which contributed +0.24 pp to the overall inflation rate. 

Other sectors that recorded robust y/y price rises in September were communication (up by 3.0% y/y), recreation and culture (2.1%), clothing and footwear (1.9%), hotels, coffee houses and restaurants (1.7%) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (1.5%). 

The only area where prices fell y/y was miscellaneous goods and services, down by 0.1%.

In monthly terms, the biggest increase was also for food and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as clothing and footwear (both up 1.8%). 

Data

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