The consumer price index (CPI) last month declined 0.16 percent from a year earlier as hotels and travel agencies cut prices to attract tourists in a bid to weather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.
Recreation costs, which make up 14 percent of the inflation gauge, dropped 2.59 percent annually, the steepest decline out of the gauge’s sub-indices, which also includes food costs, living costs, sundries, transportation and communication, garments and healthcare, DGBAS data showed.
Hotel costs were higher in January last year, when the COVID-19 outbreak was not full-blown during the Lunar New Year holiday, DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA
Sundries, which account for 16 percent of the gauge, declined 1.37 percent year-on-year, as expenses for many items sank 40 percent due to a high comparison base last year, although they were partially offset by another 3 percent rise in the price of gold and jewelry, the agency said.
Transportation and communication costs, with a 14.3 percent weighting in the gauge, dropped 0.53 percent, which was attributed to a 10 percent decline in the price of oil and a 5 percent decline in the price of communication equipment, but partly offset by a 15 percent increase in airline tickets, the agency said.
The price of airline tickets has been rising year-on-year since October last year, as airlines have not lowered their ticket prices, due to falling travel and tourism demand, given that people who needed to fly during the pandemic had a rigid demand for air travel, the agency said.
On the other hand, food costs, which have a 24.3 percent weighting in the gauge, gained 1.22 percent from a year earlier, as vegetable prices advanced 26.89 percent, due to less supply after a cold spell, Tsao said.
“Because vegetable prices began to stabilize in late January, they are expected to remain flat this month and not drive up inflation,” Tsao said.
Clothes gained 2.09 percent due to fewer sales events last month, while living costs and healthcare rose 0.33 percent and 0.49 percent respectively, the data showed.
Core CPI, which excludes the price of vegetables, fruit and oil, expanded 0.07 percent year-on-year last month, the agency said.
Although some people criticized an increase in pork prices — as demand for domestically produced pork rose after restrictions on the importation of US pork were lifted on Jan. 1 — the price of pork only saw a mild increase of 1.44 percent, the data showed.
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