NEWS RELEASE
REVISED CONSUMER PRICE INDEX
October 2007 

November 26, 2007

The Consumer Price Index Bulletin for October 2007 released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica introduces the Revised Consumer Price Index Series. This New Series was introduced in September 2007. This revised series provides information on the Consumer Price Index organized into Twelve Divisions (Formerly referred to as Main Groups)
starting with a base of (100) in December 2006. ie. December 2006 = 100

The All Jamaica ‘All Division’ Consumer Price Index was 110.4 for the month of October 2007. This index reflects a 1.4 per cent increase over the index of 108.9 recorded for the previous month. Inflation rates of 1.0 and 1.6 percent were recorded for the months of August and September respectively.
For the calendar year- to- date, the rate of inflation was 10.4 per cent. The rate of inflation for the fiscal year-to-date was 7.7 per cent.

A look at the regional indices showed increases for all three regions: ‘Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area’ up by 1.5 per cent, ‘Other Urban Centres’ up by 0.7 per cent and ‘Rural Areas’ up by 1.6 per cent

There were increases in the index over the previous month for all the divisions with the exception of ‘Communication’ ‘and ‘Education’ for which there was no movement.

The index for the division ‘Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages’ increased by 2.7 per cent, ‘Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco’ moved up by 1.1 per cent, ‘Clothing and Footwear’ up by 0.4 per cent, ‘Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels’ up by 0.4 per cent ‘Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance’ up by 0.6 per cent, ‘ Health’ up by 0.1 per cent, Transport up by 0.3 per cent, ‘Recreation and Culture’ up by 1.1 per cent, ‘Restaurant and Accommodation Services’ up by 0.3 per cent and ‘Miscellaneous Goods and Services’ increased by 1.7 per cent.