Ammon News - Food prices in Jordan returned to rise last September by 3.2%, after declining to 3% in the previous month, while the rate reached 3.9% last July, according to data from the World Bank.

“Food prices in Jordan, which imports food worth $4 billion annually, also increased compared to the same month of last year, by 1.5 percent, and with a change rate of 1.7 percent in September 2021”, according to the bank’s statistical data.

The bank also indicated in another statistic, that the Inflation in Jordan reached its highest level in 4 years last August at 5.4% on an annual basis, before stabilizing relatively last month.

According to the data, housing and utilities prices accelerated to 9.4% y/y in September, from 9.2% y/y in August, and transportation remained stable at 6.9% y/y.
The Department of Statistics (DoS) issued its monthly report on the general consumer price index for the month of September of 2022 to reach 108.41 compared to 102.86 for the same month in 2021, registering an increase of 5.39%.

This increase was mainly contributed by the fuel and lighting group by 33.30%, transportation by 6.90%, rents by 4.48%, culture and entertainment by 14.39% and health by 7.00%, according to the DoS.

On the cumulative level, the average consumer price index for the first nine months of this year reached 106.33 compared to 102.22 for the same period in 2021, registering an increase of 4.02%.

Representative of the foodstuff sector in the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Raed Hamadeh, said in a previous press statement that the prices of food commodities began to decrease locally after their levels recently declined in international markets.

The prices of vegetable oils, types of cereals, legumes and canned goods began to witness a decline in the local market, while the prices of other items such as sugar and rice are still witnessing an increase in their prices in international stock exchanges, he indicated.

Hamada justified the decline in the prices of basic food commodities for a number of reasons, foremost of which is the stability of demand for them in global markets, in addition to the large decline in freight rates and their return to their acceptable levels.