Muscat, Oman — The general inflation rate in the GCC countries rose by 1.7 percent at the end of December 2024 compared to the figures recorded during same month of the previous year, according to the Consumer Price data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat).
The increase in the annual general inflation rate in the Gulf is primarily driven by a 5.9 percent increase in housing prices and a 2.8 percent rise in the prices of goods and services.
The culture and entertainment group recorded a 1.8 percent increase, while both the food and beverages group and the education group rose by 1.2 percent each. The restaurants and hotels group saw a 1.1 percent increase, and the health group edged up by 0.1 percent.
This was offset by a 2.7 percent decline in prices in the transportation group, 1.7 percent in furniture and household equipment, 1.1 percent in tobacco, 0.9 percent in communications, and 0.2 percent in clothing and footwear.
The overall Gulf inflation rate was also lower than the European Union inflation rate of 2.7 percent, and lower than many of the GCC’s major trading partners in total merchandise imports.
Brazil recorded the highest inflation rate in December 2024 compared to the figures recorded during the same month of the previous year, at 4.8 percent. It was followed by Japan at 3.6 percent, then the Republic of India and the United Kingdom at 3.5 percent, the United States at 2.9 percent, Germany at 2.6 percent, South Korea at 1.9 percent, France and Italy at 1.3 percent each, and China at 0.1 percent.
