27 September 2019
The overall Retail Price Index was measured at 105.3 in the third quarter of 2019. This compares with 104.9 in the second quarter of the year, and 102.4 in the third quarter of last year. This means that retail prices rose, on average, by 2.9% over the past year, between the third quarter of 2018 and the third quarter of 2019, and by 0.4% in the three months between the second and third quarters.
The annual price inflation rate of 2.9% is a decrease in the rate from last quarter (Q2 2019), when the annual price inflation rate was measured at 4.0% (see Chart 1). The quarterly price inflation rate (i.e. Q3 2019 compared to Q2 2019) of 0.4% is also a decrease compared to last quarter, when it was 0.7%
Chart 1. Annual price inflation rate, St Helena, Q3 2013 to Q3 2019
Price increases that had an upward impact on the inflation rate this quarter include local bread, imported milk, cheese, oranges, spirits, cigarettes, paint, and fuel. But the price survey also recorded decreases in the price of some items, such as local eggs, imported margarine and rice, and cement.
The full Statistical Bulletin can be also be downloaded.
The detailed data can be accessed in Excel format from the ‘Inflation’ file on our Latest Statistics page.