{"id":105864,"date":"2026-02-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2026\/02\/16\/inflation-rate-hits-11-month-low-in-january\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T00:00:00","slug":"inflation-rate-hits-11-month-low-in-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2026\/02\/16\/inflation-rate-hits-11-month-low-in-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflation rate hits 11-month low in January"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>Annual inflation cooled to 1.8% in January 2026<\/strong> \u2014 its lowest level since February 2025, down from 2.1% in December<\/a>, according to Gastat data (pdf)<\/a>. On a monthly basis, prices crept up just 0.2% compared to December.<\/p>\n

Food and beverage prices<\/strong> \u2014 the heaviest component in the index \u2014 inched up slightly by 0.2% y-o-y, slower than December\u2019s 1.3%, with the cereals category shrinking 0.4% from a 0.2% rise in December. The live animals and meat segment stood at 1.5%, while meat (fresh, chilled, or frozen) stood at 1.7%.<\/p>\n

The rental squeeze isn\u2019t going anywhere: <\/strong>Housing, water, and electricity costs rose 4.2% y-o-y, almost entirely propelled by a 5.2% jump in actual rentals for housing, as the impact of sweeping real estate reforms \u2014 including the rent freeze in Riyadh \u2014 still has not materialized in the data. <\/p>\n

Luxury and personal care remain outliers:<\/strong> Prices for personal care and miscellaneous goods spiked 7.9%, driven by a 28.1% surge in jewelry and watches. This suggests that despite the moderate headline inflation, high-end discretionary spending among the Kingdom\u2019s consumer base remains resilient.<\/p>\n

Transport + travel still in the green:<\/strong> Transport costs rose 1.5% y-o-y, largely due to a 6.0% increase in passenger transport services. The recreation sector saw a 2.3% bump, with package holiday prices rising 3.7%.<\/p>\n

\n

\n

ALSO- Wholesale pressure is building: <\/strong>The wholesale price index (WPI) hit 2.9% in January, driven by an 18.4% surge in basic chemicals and a 3.9% rise in refined petroleum products, according to Gastat\u2019s latest WPI (pdf)<\/a>. A sharp 9.5% m-o-m jump in chemical prices suggests acute margin pressure for industrial operators and manufacturers heading further into this quarter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food and beverages only rose 0.2% compared to 1.4% in December<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4693],"tags":[10,21,4696,4692],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-105864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-big-story-today","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-inflation","tag-newslead","tag-the-big-story-today","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"c262fa8b-b3b8-4c88-b783-1d669709c3f1","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/995.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Inflation rate hits 11-month low in January","related_issue":[105859],"teaser":"Food and beverages only rose 0.2% compared to 1.4% in December"},"yoast_head":"\nInflation rate hits 11-month low in January - 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