The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

Introduction

A Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 133.3 registered for the month of August 2003. This is 0.1 percent higher that recorded for the previous month July 2003 (133.2). One year earlier (August 2003) the index stood at 133.2. 

Monthly Comparison

The subgroup mainly responsible for the negligible increase in the index was: Food, Beverage & Tobacco  which rose by 0.3 percent due mainly to an upward movement in prices of chicken legs, cheesed (cheddar), (white) potatoes. The Miscellaneous subgroup went up by 0.2 due to the price increase of toilet soap. The Furniture & Household Supplies subgroup rose by 0.1 percent due to the higher prices of disinfectant while the Services subgroup dropped by 0.1 percent due to the lower price of aspirin & paracetamol. The other subgroup namely Housing, Clothing Footwear, Transportation all remained unchanged for the period under review. 

Annual Comparison

On an annual comparison, some subgroups  indicated  increases. Food, Beverage & Tobacco rose by 1.3 percent, Housing by 0.2 percent, Services by 3.0 percent and Miscellaneous went up by 1.1 percent. On the other hand, the subgroups, which showed decreases were Furniture & Household Supplies which fell by 3.4 percent, Clothing & Footwear by 0.8 percent and Transportation went down by 0.4 percent. 

Rate of Inflation

The point-to-point monthly and annual rates of inflation both stood at  0.1 percent .

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

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