Official data released on Wednesday showed that the consumer price index in Tunisia increased for the third consecutive month, standing at 6.6% last December, on an annual basis, against 6, 4% in November 2021.
In a press release, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) stressed that this upward trend in the inflation rate is mainly due to the acceleration in the pace of food price increases by 6.9% last November, to 7.6% in December.
According to INS data, the inflation rate for the whole of 2021 is 5.7%, compared to 5.6% in 2020.
Food prices have increased drastically in recent months, with a shortage affecting several products, including eggs and subsidized vegetable oil, which are virtually absent in shops.
INS data also shows an increase in food inflation of 7.6% over one year. This increase is mainly due to the increase in the prices of poultry by 23.3%, olive oils by 21.8%, eggs by 15.5%, and fresh vegetables by 10.8%.
The INS reported that the core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) fell to 6.4% last December from 6.5% in November 2021.
