The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

Introduction

For the mid-year of 2003, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 133.1, whereas for the previous month (May 2003) the index stood at 131.2. A quarter earlier (March 2003) the index stood at 131.4. A half year earlier (December 2002) the index stood at 130.5. The same period (June 2002) one year ago the index stood at 127.1

Monthly Comparison

Two subgroups contributed to the increase in the monthly index. Housing which increased by 0.09 percent due mainly to the increase in the price of cooking gases, and Services with the largest increase of 22.14 percent due to the higher cost of school fees. Food, Beverage & Tobacco, declined by 0.22 percent as a result of lower prices of ground beef, pork chops and whisky. Furniture & Household Supply fell by 0.70 percent due to the lower prices of refrigerators and microcomputers. Clothing & Footwear fell by 1.69 percent as a result of lower prices of pamper, ladies shoes and ladies dresses. The Transportation subgroup fell by 0.65 percent due to the reduced prices of gasoline and vehicle tires, while Miscellaneous subgroup  fell by 1.42 due to the lower prices of soap and magazines.

Quarter Comparison     

The quarterly comparison indicated an increase of 1.27 percent as Housing rose by 0.09 percent and Services by 21.73 percent. Despite the overall increase, five of the subgroups showed declines. Food, Beverage & Tobacco fell by 0.96 percent, Furniture and Household Supplies declined by 0.94 percent, Clothing & Footwear by 1.78 percent, Transportation fell 0.65 percent and Miscellaneous went down by 0.20 percent.

Half-Yearly Comparison

The half-yearly comparison between December 2002 and June 2003 index indicated both significant increases and decreases among the different subgroups. The subgroup Furniture & Household Supplies, Clothing & Footwear and Miscellaneous indicated decreases of 0.70 ,0.69 and 1.39 percent respectively, while Food, Beverage & Tobacco, Housing, Transportation and Services subgroups showed increases of 0.70,0.09 ,1.06 and 21.33 percent respectively.

Annual Comparison

On an annual comparison, all the subgroups indicated the following increases: Food, Beverage & Tobacco rose by 1.21 percent, Housing by 0.40 percent, Furniture & Household Supplies  by 8.72 percent, Clothing & Footwear by 0.69percent,Transportation by 5.79 percent ,Services by  22.45 percent and Miscellaneous by 4.02 percent . 

Rate of Inflation

The point-to-point monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual rates of inflation stood at 1.42, 1.27, 1.96 and 4.69 percent respectively.

TABLE 1
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, HALF AND ANNUAL COMPARISONS
(MARCH 1995=100)

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