Cost of goods and services rises by 2.2%
The cost of living in Bermuda continued to rise in April, with fuel and energy costs going up 6.4 per cent compared with the same period in 2023.
According to the April 2024 Consumer Price Index, released recently by the Department of Statistics, consumers paid 2.2 per cent more for a basket of goods and services that month than the previous year.
The CPI gauges changes in the cost of living based on the price of consumer goods and services contained within a “shopping basket” broken down into nine categories.
While fuel and power saw the highest increase, the cost of food rose 3.6 per cent year-on-year, while health and personal care rose 3.3 per cent, education and entertainment rose 3 per cent and rents rose 2.2 per cent.
The only category to see a decrease in costs year-on-year was transport and foreign travel, which fell by 2.4 per cent.
The CPI report noted that over the past ten years, the year-on-year percentage change in food prices showed the most prominent fluctuation between 2022 and 2024, reaching a high of 10.6 per cent in September 2022.
“The annual average percentage change for the period 2014 to 2023 shows a positive growth trend in the price change of food, peaking in 2022 at an average 7.9 per cent,” the report stated.
Prices also rose in the span of a month, with a CPI increase of 0.8 per cent between March 2024 and April 2024.
Health and personal care rose by 2.7 per cent, as did transport and foreign travel, while clothing and footwear increased by 1.3 per cent and food by 0.3 per cent.
The department also issued the Retail Sales Index for April.
After adjusting for the retail sales rate of inflation, measured at 3.3 per cent in April, the overall volume of retail sales dropped 1.1 per cent compared with April 2023.
In value terms, retail sales year-on-year increased to an estimated $103.8 million — a 2 per cent rise.
Food stores saw a 2.9 per cent drop in volume but sales increased 1.1 per cent, driven in part by the 3.6 per cent rise in food costs.
Liquor sales went down 10.3 per cent in volume, and its sales value fell 9.8 per cent.
Motor vehicles came out top year-on-year, with a 44 per cent increase in volume and a 47.8 rise in sales value.
Petrol station sales volumes decreased 2.6 per cent and sales values declined by 2.1 per cent.
Building materials volumes were up 1.4 per cent, and values by 3.2 per cent.
Clothes stores saw a 17.1 drop in volume and a 13.7 per cent fall in value.
Declarations on overseas purchases increased 9.6 per cent this April over the past year, with imports by courier rising $1.2 million to $15.5 million.
Sea imports by households rise $700,000 to $9.4 million, and declarations at the airport by returning residents rose $800,000 to $5.4 million.
Imports via the Bermuda Post Office held steady, at $500,000.
• To read both reports, see Related Media
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