Inflation continues to rise sharply in Algeria to approach the 10% mark. This is what emerges from the figures just published by the National Statistics Office (ONS), in its last bulletin for the month of April, linked to the consumer price index.
“For the city of Algiers, the annual rate of inflation during the period from April 2022 to March 2023 and from April 2021 to March 2022 is +9.4%. In March 2023, the evolution of consumer prices is +10.1%, compared to the same month of the year 2022”, indicates the last bulletin of the ONS.
Knowing that the price index in the Algerian capital follows the same trend as the general trend at the national level, it is easy to deduce that the annual rate of inflation during the period from April 2022 to March 2023 and from April 2021 to March 2022 suffered a similar increase everywhere in Algeria.
“Between March 2022 and March 2023, the price index increased by +10.08% in Algiers. At the national level, this index jumped by +10.16%”, specifies the ONS.
By way of comparison, in March 2022, the change in consumer prices was +9.3% compared to the same month of 2021. The annual inflation rate between April 2021 to March 2022 and between April 2020 to March 2021 was +8.2%.
Sharp rise in prices
According to the latest ONS bulletin, many categories of consumer products have suffered a price increase in Algeria.
“At the national level, in March 2023 and compared to the same month of the year 2022, the evolution of food prices is +14.3%. In March 2023 and compared to the previous month, the general consumer price index, at the national level, recorded an increase of 1.9%. The prices of food goods increased by 3.1%”, underlines the bulletin of the ONS.
The household consumption expenditure survey targeted a sample of 12,150 households spread over the entire national territory according to 7 strata.
At the national level, the national consumer price index is established on the basis of price observation carried out among a sample of 17 towns and villages representative of the different regions of the country.
This index essentially makes it possible to have indicators of the evolution of retail prices throughout the national territory, thus allowing a comparative analysis of the evolution of prices between Algiers and the other regions of the country.
“In the month of March 2023 and compared to the same month of the year 2022, the evolution of consumer prices is +15.53% for education, culture and leisure”, according to the ONS, which specifies that prices have “increased by +14.36% for food and non-alcoholic beverages”.
The strong increases, however, spared a few sectors such as transport and communications. “The lowest rate is recorded for the transport and communication group, which only grew by +1%. Clothing and footwear is +6.74%. Housing and charges of + 2.79%. Health and personal hygiene (+8.24%)”, details the ONS bulletin.
In mid-April, the Bank of Algeria (BA) took new measures to fight against inflation. The reserve requirement rate was increased from 1% to 3% and the bilateral liquidity reversals introduced in September 2020 were strengthened to bring them to 600 billion dinars.
These two measures initially target the potentially inflationary sources of excess liquidity. In April 2022, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune decided to increase the salaries of civil servants, to enhance retirement pensions and the reduction of income tax for all employees to improve the purchasing power of Algerians who have been eroded by inflation.
A salary increase has been decided to range from 4,500 DA/year and 8,500 DA/year depending on the category, i.e. increases reaching 47% between 2022 and 2024.
In Algiers, the gross consumer price index is characterized by an “increase of 2.1% in March 2023 compared to the previous month, i.e. a rate close to that in force during the same month of last year ( +1.9%),” according to the ONS.
This result, “more important than that recorded in February, is mainly induced by the prices of food goods which mark an evolution of +3.6%”, indicates the ONS.
Increasingly expensive agricultural products
The prices of fresh agricultural products are marked by a significant increase in Algeria. The price of onions broke a record with an increase of +166% between March 2022 and the same month of 2023 to reach 450 dinars on the day of Eid-el-Fitr in certain stores in Algiers.
The price increase is estimated at an average of 6.1%. “More or less significant variations characterize the products in this category, which recorded an increase of 31.2% for vegetables and +3.1% for potatoes,” notes the ONS.
On the other hand, a few products suffered a drop in price. “Price drops are noted for fruit (-0.6%), meat, and beef offal (-0.3%). The prices of industrial food products evolved at a rate of +0.8%, generated mainly by the growth in the prices of non-alcoholic beverages (+7.9%) and that of other food products (+2.7%)”, underlines the ONS.
The latest ONS bulletin gives some details: “The prices of manufactured products show a variation of +1.1%. Prices for services show a slight increase of 0.1%. After correction taking into account seasonal variations, the consumer price index posted, during the month of March 2023, a slight increase of +1.3% compared to the previous month”.
Food prices by category
The ONS bulletin gives a detailed overview of food prices by category. “Food prices were marked by a 3.6% increase in March 2023, i.e. a higher variation than that observed in the previous month (+2.0%). Fresh agricultural products recorded a rate of +6.1%, due to the increase in the number of products, in particular vegetables (+31.2%), potatoes (+3.1%) and to a lesser degree chicken meat (+1.7%)”, is it written in this bulletin.
On the other hand, the ONS mentions decreases that concern certain products such as “fruits as well as beef meat and offal” which “mark decreases of 0.6% and 0.3% respectively”.
The prices of industrial food products are characterized by an increase of 0.8%. This increase mainly concerns “non-alcoholic beverages (+7.9%) and various food products, the rate of which is the least increase (+2.7%)”.
However, the general trend is upward in prices in Algeria: “In March 2023 and compared to March 2022, the growth in food prices is +14.9%. Fresh agricultural products followed a jump of +24.8% with +46.4% for meat and sheep offal and +43.2% for fruit. Industrial food products saw an increase of 5.3% with +12.4% for milk-cheese derivatives,” relates the ONS bulletin.
Finally, the ONS bulletin discusses the price trend for non-food manufactured products and services. “In March 2023 and compared to the previous month, the prices of manufactured products posted a rate of +1.1%. Services are marked by a slight increase of 0.1%. In March 2023 and compared to the same month of the previous year, the growth in the prices of manufactured goods is 7.2% and that of services 3.1%”, it is mentioned.
