Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Aug 2025
Year-on-Year Analysis
The Consumer Price Index declined by 1.4% for the twelve months ending August 2025.
The overall decline was largely attributed to declining average prices in the categories Transport, Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance.
The index for Transport Services fell 28.7%, attributed to a large decline in the average price of airline fares, primarily to Barbados, over the one-year period.
The average fare declined from $4,037.31 to $1,328.56. The index for Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance fell 2.9%.
The two largest contributors to the decline were the indexes for Furniture and Furnishings, Carpets and Other Floor Coverings, which declined by 7.4% and the index for Glassware, Tableware and Household Utensils fell by 5.9%.
The index for Food increased by 1.1%. The Index for Vegetables, Fruits and Meat and Meat Products were the largest contributors to the increase in the Food index.
In the Vegetable category, all three sub-categories recorded increase, with the index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Vegetables and Vegetable-based Products recording the largest increase of 7.2%.
Within the category for Fruits, the index for Frozen, Preserved or Processed Fruit and Fruit-based Products increased by 17.8%. The index for All Items Less Food and Energy declined by 2.1%.
This decline was influenced by the reductions in the Transport Services, Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance and Clothing & Footwear.
Month-to-Month Price Changes
In August 2025, the Monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined by 0.3% compared to July 2025, driven primarily by a decrease in the Index for Actual rentals for housing (-1.2) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.4%).
The Food Index declined marginally by 0.8%, with prices decreasing in six of the nine major supermarket food groups.
The Fruit index fell 9.5%, while the index for Meat and Meat Products decreased by 5.1%.
The Bread and Cereals index declined by 1.9%. In contrast, prices rose for Oils and Fats (+6.3%), Vegetables (+4.4%) and Fish and Sea Food (+1.9%).
The All Items Less Food and Energy Index similarly had a marginal decrease of 0.2%, mainly due to a reduction in the Indexes for Actual Rentals for Housing index (-1.7%), Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics (-0.3%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance (0.1%).
The reduction offset the increases in the indexes for Clothing and Footwear (+0.9%), Transport Services (+0.5%) and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (+0.5%).
