Statistics Center: Point-to-Point Inflation Rate Exceeds 43 Percent

Based on the latest report from Iran’s Statistics Center on the first day of Ordibehesht, the monthly inflation rate for Farvardin 1401 reached 3.3 percent, which represents a two percent increase compared to Esfand 1400. According to the statistics presented, the monthly inflation rate for households has also experienced growth.

The highest point-to-point inflation growth is related to food items with a 2.7 percent increase. The report states that within the “Food, beverages, and tobacco” group, the largest price increases over the past month have been in the “Fruits and nuts” category, the “Vegetables” category, particularly tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants, and the “Sugar, sweeteners, and confectionery” category.

The meaning of point-to-point inflation rate is the percentage change in the price index number compared to the same month in the previous year. Iran’s Statistics Center states that the point-to-point inflation rate in Farvardin 1401 reached 35.6 percent; meaning Iranian households have on average paid this much more than Farvardin 1400 to purchase a “identical set of goods and services”.

For food items, this rate has been reported at an average of 43 percent.

In the last week of Farvardin, it was officially announced that the price of three types of premium Iranian rice for consumers has reached above 100,000 tomans. This increase was contrary to the “administrative price reduction” ordered by the government, which had been implemented before Nowruz to control rice prices.

In the major “non-food goods and services” category, “hotel accommodation expenses”, in the “miscellaneous goods and services” group “car insurance premiums and 18-carat gold”, and in the “transportation” group “various automobiles and their repairs” experienced the highest price increases compared to the previous month.

Last year, the Ministry of Labor released a report stating that over the past decade, meat and rice consumption among Iranian citizens has decreased by half on average, and dairy product consumption has also declined noticeably.

Decline in Annual Household Inflation Rate

Iran’s Statistics Center states that despite the increase in point-to-point and monthly inflation rates, the annual inflation rate for households in the country has declined. Based on this, in the one-year period ending in Farvardin 1401, the inflation rate has reached 39.2 percent for households in the country with a one percent decline.

This inflation decline in Iran does not seem noticeable. The slogan of fighting poverty has been repeated by various governments in recent years, but reports from specialized institutions such as Iran’s Statistics Center indicate a sharp increase in absolute poverty in Iran, which the Ministry of Labor also confirmed last year.

The Statistics Center’s report was released while Iran’s president had asked governors in the final weeks of 1400 to use all capacities to eradicate absolute poverty and not let the issue extend to the next year.”

Economic activists and experts called Ibrahim Raisi’s demand unprofessional and surprising. Social media users also made this directive the subject of satire and ridicule.