The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

THE COST OF LIVING

Movement in the Index

The Food, Beverage and Tobacco subgroup halted at an index of 140.7 in 1995 as compared to 134.3 recorded for the previous period (1994). The annual increase indicated stood at 4.77 percent. The sub-index remained sort of steady in terms of fluctuations, throughout the year.

Housing prices indicated a 5.37 percent increase in 1995 over the previous year. The index which stood at 115.8 in the year under review increased by 5.90 points from the 109.9 index recorded in 1994.

From 1994 to 1995 the index of Furniture and Household Supplies grew by 5.90 points over the 138.1 recorded for 1994. In general, prices increased in this subgroup by 4.27 percent after increasing by 2.14 in 1994 over that of 1993. Increasing by 4.30 points was the subgroup for Clothing and Footwear which represented a 2.73 percent growth in the period under review, over the previous year. Transportation cost rose by some 5.30 percent after the index for the subgroup exceeded 200.0 to reach 208.7 up by 10.50 points over the previous year.

The Services and Miscellaneous subgroups recorded increases of 10.16 and 3.27 percent, respectively, in 1995 over the corresponding previous period. Overall, the Allgroup index which represents the average of all subgroups, recorded a 5.12 percent increase in the corresponding period, over that of the previous period. The overall general index stood at 147.7, up 7.20 points over the 1994 level of 140.5.

The annual rate of inflation for 1995 stood at 5.12 percent, up by 0.97 percentage points from the 4.15 percent rate recorded for the previous year. Continuing to fall in value is the purchasing power of the dollar which for 1995 stood at $0.68 as compared to the $0.71 recorded for the previous year.

The Economic Outlook for the territory in terms of prices, the outdated base period for the index which has not yet been updated as promised in the previous issue sort of affects the reliability of the data but still give a meaningful indication as to the impact of price changes occurring in the territory. The results from the Household Budgetary Survey (HBS) have not been released, hence the unchanged base of the index. It is still hoped that in the not-too-distant future the new base/weights will be assigned.

MONTHLY AND ANNUAL CHANGES IN THE AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES
FOR A SELECTED BASKET OF GOODS AND SERVICES 1994-1995
(US Dollars)

MONTHLY AND ANNUAL CHANGES IN THE AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES
FOR A SELECTED BASKET OF GOODS AND SERVICES 1995-1996
(US Dollars)

MONTHLY AND ANNUAL CHANGES IN THE AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES
FOR A SELECTED BASKET OF GOODS AND SERVICES 1994-1995
(US Dollars)

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