In the period between December 2020 and August 2021, the costs of the different baskets of consumer goods and services have reported increases ranging between RD$1,169 and RD$3,131.
In percentage terms, these price increases were 5.3% in the case of quintile 1, where the lowest income family segment is grouped, and 5.1% in quintile 5, where the families with the highest purchasing power in the country are grouped.
In detail, the cost of the food basket of quintile number one was RD$21,791.97 at the close of December 2020 and in August it stood at RD$22,960.88, which means that it increased 5.3 % (1,169 pesos). Quintile number 2 went from RD$28,421.60 to RD$29,981.96. It increased from January to August RD$1,560.36 (5.4 %); and the number 3 quintal went from RD$33,798.59 to RD$35,620.70.
In this case, the absolute increase was RD$1,822.11 (5.3 %).
In the other lower middle class family group, quintile 4, the increase in cost in the eight months mentioned was 5.2 %, going from RD$39,492.20 to RD$41,584.31. The fifth quintile registered an increase of RD$3,130 (5.1 %). The national basket, which is the average of the five baskets, increased by RD$3,940.66, going from RD$34,992.80 to RD$38,933.46.
Overall view
Cumulative inflation for the months January-August) stood at 5.41 %, while inter-annual inflation, measured from August 2020 to August 2021, stood at 7.90 %, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released Thursday by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD).
The CPI result for August was significantly influenced by the increase in the price of fresh chicken, which contributed more than a quarter of the month’s inflation (up 7.70%), due to the migration of consumer demand from pork to poultry, as a result of a substitution effect, after cases of African swine fever occurred in the country.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages, garlic and onions
The official August CPI figures also indicate that the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, with a 1.47% variation, had a significant impact on inflation in August 2021. In fact, the price increases with the highest contribution, after chicken, were: garlic (22.23 %), soft drink (5.76 %), onions (11.63 %), tomatoes (19.38 %), beef (4.14 %), peppers (9.80 %), soybean oil (1.37 %), pineapple (12.44 %), salami (0.91 %) and rice (0.25 %). Meanwhile, other food goods partially offset the increase in this group by registering price decreases.
