The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

Introduction

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March 2004 stood at 132.6; up from 132.5 recorded in the previous month (February 2004). One quarter earlier (December 2003) the index stood at 132.5 and one year earlier it stood at 131.4.

Monthly Comparison

 On a monthly comparison, some subgroups reflected minor movements. Food, Beverage & Tobacco increased by 0.2 percent due mainly to higher prices of pork chop, milk, mayonnaise and rum. 1.16 percent due mainly to higher price of pork chop, fresh fruits and vegetables, teas and rum; Furniture & Household Supplies registered a 0.6 percent increase due to the higher prices of disinfectants and Services rose by 0.3 percent due to the higher price of vitamins and cough syrups/rubs. The Clothing & Footwear subgroup declined by 0.7 percent due to lower prices of panty hose. The Housing, Transportation and Miscellaneous subgroups all remained unchanged for the period.

Quarter Comparison     

On a quarterly comparison Food, Beverage & Tobacco rose by 0.1 percent, Furniture and Household Supplies increased by 0.6 percent and Services went up by 0.3 percent. On the other hand, the  Clothing & Footwear subgroup indicated a drop of 0.7 percent while Housing, Transportation and Miscellaneous all remained unchanged. 

Annual Comparison

On an annual comparison,  the  following subgroups reflected significant changes: The Services subgroup increased by 23.1 percent; Furniture & Household Supplies fell by 4.4 percent; Clothing & Footwear declined by 2.9 percent. Also, Transportation dropped by 0.7 percent.  Food, Beverage & Tobacco declined by 0.5 percent while the Housing subgroup moved up 0.1 percent.  The Miscellaneous subgroup increased by 0.4 percent. by 4.15 percent . 

Rate of Inflation

The point-to-point monthly, quarterly and annual rates of inflation stood at 0.1, 0.0 and 0.9 percent respectively.

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

Webmaster: Jerinice Stoutt
Website designed and created by CPMD
This page was last updated on: Monday, 21st November 2005