Abu Dhabi’s consumer price index continued its downward path in June, this time falling a further 0.7% y-o-y, following a 0.6% dip in May, according to data from the Abu Dhabi Statistics Center. On a monthly basis, inflation saw a 0.5% drop, after it had edged up a mere 0.1% in the previous month.

The annual picture: Prices of ins. and financial services saw the highest annual increase among Abu Dhabi inflation categories in June, rising 5.1%, followed by the recreation and culture basket which accelerated 4.7% y.o-y during the month. However, this was offset by an 11.3% dip in transport prices — the second largest component in the inflation basket — as well as a 5.8% decline in clothing and footwear.

On a monthly basis, the recreation and culture segment saw a m-o-m drop with an 8.0% decrease, followed by clothing and footwear with a 5.0% dip. Meanwhile, prices of food and beverage, as well as personal care went up 0.4% on a monthly basis, followed by housing, water and electricity which inched up 0.3% m-o-m in June.

Meanwhile in Dubai: The emirate’s annual inflation remained steady in June, coming in at 2.37%, unchanged from May, with some components of the basket recording moderate price growth, while other segments remained in deflation territory. Emirates NBD anticipates that inflation is likely to stay around current levels for the rest of this year, the bank said earlier in a research note.

The nation’s overall inflation outlook: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) slightly lowered in June its inflation forecast for the UAE for 2025 down by a 0.1 percentage point to 1.9, which it attributed to a “continuous downward trend in transportation costs” and “moderating energy prices.” This puts the CBUAE’s forecast just below that of the IMF, which now expects inflation in the UAE to come in at 2.1% in 2025, in what is a slight upward revision from the fund’s earlier estimate of 2% inflation for the year.

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