UAE Edition 
Egypt Edition 
Saudi Edition 
MENA <> India Corridor 
Logistics (MENA) 
Climate (MENA) 
Share
Read Full Issue 
Abu Dhabi’s consumer price index inched down 0.5% in August, returning back to its downward streak after a slight 0.1% pick-up in July, according to data from the Abu Dhabi Statistics Center (here (pdf) and here (pdf)). On a monthly basis, inflation saw a 0.1% decrease, the data shows, after having edged up 0.9% in July.
(**Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)
The sectors remaining in deflation and pushing the emirate’s prices down on a y-o-y basis include clothing and footwear, which recorded the most significant dip for the second consecutive month (-9.3%). Transport prices, the second largest component of the inflation basket, also fell by 6.8%. Recreation and culture saw a 2.4% decrease, while the food and beverage segment declined by 1.8%, and telecommunications eased by 0.6%.
Prices of ins. and financial services led annual price increases in August, climbing 6.8% for a second consecutive month. This was followed by 4.8% increases in the costs across the household equipment and routine household maintenance, while personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods recorded a 4.7% increase. Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels also picked up by 2.2%.
On a monthly basis, furnishing, household equipment, and routine household maintenance recorded the highest increase among all categories during the month, rising 2.6%, followed by a 0.5% increase in food and beverage prices, and a 0.4% rise in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels. Segments seeing deflation included recreation and culture, dipping 8.8%, clothing and footwear, dropping 1.5%, while transport and restaurants and hotels saw their prices falling 0.2%.
Price growth is still much cooler than in Dubai, where annual inflation decelerated for the first time in four months to 2.43% in August, down from 2.88% in July.
The bigger picture: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) lowered in September its inflation forecast for the UAE this year by 0.4 percentage points to 1.5%, which it attributed to falling food and transport costs. Meanwhile, the IMF expects inflation in the country 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.
