São Paulo – Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation fell sharply to 12.8% in February, down from 24% in January, according to the latest data from the country’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, Arab News reported on Monday.
The statistics agency attributed the decline to the base effect, noting that the exceptionally high price increases observed over the past two years are no longer influencing the inflation rate.
On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices increased by 1.4% in February, a slight decrease from January’s 1.5% rise. This marks the fourth time in the last seven months that inflation has slowed, following a period of acceleration that began in August 2023.
Where is Egypt’s inflation coming from?
Last year’s inflationary pressures were primarily driven by rising fuel prices, higher public transportation fares, and a 300% hike in the price of subsidized bread in May, marking the first such increase in over 30 years.
The February slowdown was mainly attributed to an 8.2% drop in vegetable prices, while costs for water, electricity, and gas remained stable, among other factors.
