There is no doubt that the scourge of hyperinflation is sweeping most countries of the world at the present time, but its effects are more severe on the politically, security, social and economic troubled countries, including a good number of Arab countries, most of which are unable to establish social security for their citizens.
The global economy is witnessing the fastest rise in inflation since 2008, after spending thousands of billions of dollars in stimulus packages pumped by governments and central banks to counter the repercussions of the Corona pandemic.
But what is the impact of the global inflation wave in numbers in the Arab countries?
All Arab countries, according to their latest official statistics, and unofficial figures as well, seemed to be subject to a tidal wave of inflation, but at different rates, with the exception of Iraq, which recorded a slight decrease in the inflation rate of 0.7% during September 2021
Given the rapid developments at the level of economic deterioration that exacerbated the crisis of numbers in countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Sudan, it is difficult to find reliable recent statistics, while all the news from those countries about the cost of living indicate a severe impoverishment disaster.
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To whom
Yemen topped the countries in the development of annual inflation, and the rate of increase was 10% last September, while the Central Bank expects the annual inflation rate to rise to 40% this year, due to imported inflation and internal turmoil in the country, compared to an annual rate of 25 % during 2020, and a low annual rate of 10% at the end of 2019. The bank indicated that the survey on the monthly index of the lowest price of the food basket indicates an average level of 41,142 Yemeni riyals in 2020, compared to 37,353 riyals in 2019, an increase that exceeds 10%.
The curve of the general level of prices has witnessed an upward trend since 2020, under the influence of the deterioration of the value of the Yemeni riyal to be reflected directly on the prices of imported basic commodities, which represent about 90% of the total consumed materials.
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Egypt After Yemen, came Egypt, where annual inflation increased by 7.3% last October, after an increase of about 8% in September and 6.4% last August, recording an increase for the sixth month in a row.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said that the inflation rate in cities rose to 6.6% in September, compared to 5.7% in August. The monthly inflation rate jumped 1.6 percent for the whole of the republic in September, compared to negative 0.1 percent last August.
The Central Bureau of Statistics attributed the most important reasons for this rise to the rise in the prices of vegetables, meat, fruits, dairy, oils and health groups.
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Tunisia
After two months of stability at 6.2% in Tunisia, inflation rose in October 2021 by 6.3%, according to the Government Statistics Institute, in clear contradiction with the authority’s policy that declared war on high prices and speculation.
The Statistics Institute explained the increase in the inflation rate to the evolution of the rate of food price hikes, which recorded an increase of 7%, especially poultry prices, which jumped 27.3% in one month, while the prices of eggs increased by 14.4%, and fresh produce by 13.7%, and the price of fish increased by 3.8%.
The rest of the groups that are included in the consumption basket of Tunisians recorded an increase in the prices of clothes and shoes by 6.4%, services and educational materials by 1.7%, pharmaceuticals by 8.5%, building materials by 12.4% and cleaning by 5.9%.
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Algeria
In this country, it was found that the official announced inflation rate amounted to 5.6% last June, while Minister of Finance Ayman bin Abdul Rahman revealed on November 8 this year that the inflation rate had reached 5.66% until last June, which constitutes An increase of 3.4% compared to the previous year.
Diameter
In the State of Qatar, the consumer price index (inflation) in the State of Qatar rose by 4.28% in October 2021 on an annual basis, compared to the same month of 2020, and it also recorded a monthly increase of about 1.34% compared to September of this year, To reach 100.41 points, according to the data of the Qatar Planning and Statistics Authority.
The annual rise in the inflation rate is due to the increase in the costs of most of the groups that make up the index, most notably entertainment and culture 25.31%, transportation 9.56%, food and beverages 4.17%, and furniture and household appliances 3.72%. %.
Excluding the group of housing, water, electricity, gas and other types of fuel, the agency’s data indicates that this indicator reached 103.81 points last October, an increase of 1.55% compared to September 2021, and 6.24% from October 2020.
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Also, in the Gulf region, data from the Central Administration of Statistics showed that the annual inflation rate in Kuwait increased by 3.36% in June 2021, on an annual basis.
According to the administration's report, the consumer price index (inflation) rose to 120 points last June, compared to 116.1 points in the same month of 2020. On a monthly basis, inflation rose slightly by 0.5% last June, compared to May May 2021, which scored 119.4 points.
The annual increase in prices of 11 groups, led by food and beverages, contributed by 11.47%, while the prices of only one group, namely education, decreased by 15.46%.
Amman
In the Sultanate of Oman, the annual inflation rate reached 2.46% in September 2021.
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Libya
Libyan statistics indicate that inflation reached 1.9% in June 2021, while the published figures until the end of the second quarter of this year show low inflation rates that do not exceed 4%, but the International Monetary Fund in its report on the global economy published in October Last year, it was expected that inflation in Libya in 2021 would reach 20.11% annually.
Jordan
In Jordan, the consumer price index (inflation) increased by 1.61% on an annual basis in October 2021, compared to the same month in 2019, according to the (government) Department of Statistics, with the impact of transport groups, meat, poultry, rent, fuel, lighting, oils and fats. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.06% compared to September 2021 prices, with the impact of transport groups, fruits and nuts, clothing, fuel, lighting, tea, coffee and cocoa.
On an annual basis, inflation during the first ten months of 2021 increased by 1.21% over the same period last year, as a result of the increase in the prices of transport groups, rents, meat, poultry, tobacco and cigarettes.
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Saudi Arabia
Returning to the Gulf, the consumer price index in Saudi Arabia rose 0.8% in October 2021 than it was a year ago, while the increase from the previous month was 0.2%, according to the General Authority for Statistics, which indicated that the annual increase is due to the 6.4% increase in transportation and food prices. and beverages 1.4%, bearing in mind that the increase in transportation and transportation costs is mainly due to an annual increase in gasoline prices, which amounted to 47.9%.
Morocco, West, sunset
In Morocco, figures indicate that inflation reached 0.7% in last September. In mid-October 2021, the Central Bank expected inflation to reach 1.2% this year, and 1.6 in 2022, in a context characterized by increased energy prices and a recovery in internal demand.
Food stuff came at the forefront of the commodities that witnessed an increase, as the price of table oil increased by 23 dirhams (2.5 dollars) for a 5-liter bottle, and the price of a 5-liter bottle of vegetable oil increased by 27 dirhams ($3), and this included all brands. Also, the price of semolina in a category of 25 kilograms increased to 50 dirhams, or about $5.
The price increases did not include foodstuffs only. Even fuel prices rose by between one and two dirhams per liter, in conjunction with the global oil price jump.
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UAE
In the UAE, data from the UAE Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority showed an increase in annual inflation last August 2021, for the first time since January 2019, 32 months ago, recording 0.55%, which is a relatively small percentage.
In its monthly report, the authority stated that inflation remained in the negative range for 31 months, before rising last August.
Iraq
In Iraq, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the inflation rate for September 2021 decreased by 0.7% compared to August, indicating that the annual inflation rate rose by 7.3%. The Health Department and the Restaurants and Hotels Department recorded an increase of 0.2%, the household appliances group 0.3%, and the clothing, shoes, recreation and culture department by 0.1%.
Lebanon
In light of the chaos currently taking place in Lebanon, there are no realistic statistics in Lebanon regarding inflation in 2021, as successive waves of high prices swept the pocket of the Lebanese citizen after the lira lost about 90% of its value against the dollar in the past two years.
But the World Food Program says food price inflation has risen by as much as 557 percent since October 2019.
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Syrian
Similar to the Lebanese reality, accurate statistics are absent from the Syrian economy in general, but the living reality of the Syrians in 2021 is the worst since 2011.
Prices are jumping at high levels, increasing the cost of living for the Syrian family to more than 1.3 million pounds “at the minimum,” while wages do not exceed 77,000 pounds, and it is expected that the employees will be given a one-time financial grant if the Assad government does not increase salaries “because the situation is about to explode, and the smells of hunger cover The streets of Damascus.
The suffering of the Syrians increases by securing their daily livelihood after the decline in the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar to about 3,600 pounds, and the increase in prices, according to the spokeswoman for the World Food Program, Jessica Lawson, by more than 200% in less than a year, warning that “more Syrians are slipping into hunger and poverty and food insecurity more than ever before,” which prompted Akjmal Magtimova, the representative of the World Health Organization in Syria, to warn of the consequences of the high rate of poverty, after 90% of the Syrian population reached below the poverty line of two dollars a day.
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Sudan
In Sudan, the inflation rate recorded a new decrease during September 2021, at 365.82 percent, compared to 387.56 percent last August, a decrease of 21.74 points, after the country recorded last June one of the highest inflation rates in the world. At 442.78%, according to the official authorities.
The Central Bureau of Statistics said that the annual rate of change for the food and beverage group decreased again, to 226.93% in September, compared to an average of 260.76 percent in August. The core inflation rate also declined without the food and beverage group, recording 515.46 percent in the month before last, compared to 541.6 percent in the previous month.