Tunisia: price of meat increases by 27% in April
The National Institute of Statistics (INS) announced on Saturday that the inflation rate in Tunisia slightly eased to 10.1% in April 2023, down from 10.3% in March and 10.4% in the previous month. Tunisia is facing several economic and political challenges recently, and has been seeking an IMF bailout.
The decline in the inflation rate is due to the deceleration in the rate of price increases between April and March 2023, compared to the same period last year. The core inflation rate, which excludes food and energy, also fell to 7.7% from 7.8% in the previous month.
Despite the overall decline in inflation, free products, which are unregulated, went up by 11.2% year-on-year, while regulated products rose by 6.5%. The increase in free food products was particularly significant, up by 18.3% compared to 0.6% for food products with regulated prices.
The decline in the inflation rate was observed in the increase rate of food prices, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco, as well as transport services prices. The rise in food prices was mainly due to the increase in prices of meat (at 27%) and edible oils. Meanwhile, the increase in prices of manufactured goods and services was due to the rise in prices of construction materials, clothing products, and household cleaning products.
The increase in prices for services was mainly due to the rise in prices for restaurants, cafés and hotels, public and private transport services, and financial services.
In April 2023, consumer prices edged up by 1.2%, following a 0.7% rise in the previous month. The increase was due to a 6.7% increase in clothing prices, with the end of the winter sales and the Eid festivities, and a 1.5% increase in food prices.
