The harmonized index of consumer prices (IHPC) in Côte d'Ivoire recorded an increase of 0.4% in May 2020 compared to April 2020, according to data established by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) based in Abidjan.

According to the INS, this increase is attributable both to the Food and non-alcoholic beverages functions, to the Housing, water, gas, electricity and other fuels functions and to the Transport functions.

Food products and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 0.5%, following the rise in prices of products from the items Unprocessed cereals (+3.3%), Tubers and plantain (+4.9%) and Flour, semolina and groats (+5.8%).

"The quarterly and annual variations are respectively +4.6% and +3.1% for the Unprocessed cereals item, +29.3% and +28.0% for the Tubers and plantain item", underlines the INS. As for the Flour, semolina and groats item, the quarterly and annual variations are +2.6% and +13.9%.

Concerning the function Housing, water, gas, electricity, an increase of 0.4% is noted by the INS. This structure explains this increase in price by the rise in the price of products from the Solid fuels and other items (+4.3%). Quarterly and annual variations are respectively -1.5% and +1.7%.

In terms of transport, an increase of 0.7% was noted in May due to the rise in the price of products from the Road passenger transport items (+1.9%). Quarterly and annual variations are respectively +2.0% and +2.2%.

An increase of 0.7% is also noted for the Health function. According to the INS, this increase is due to the soaring prices of products in the Traditional Medicines items (+12.3%). The quarterly and annual variations are respectively -13.1% and -6.6%.

As for the other functions, the INS data indicate more or less stable variations in their indices. This is the case for communication, education, restaurants and hotels (+0%) where leisure and miscellaneous goods and services recorded +0.2%.

The quarterly and annual variations of the overall index for the month of May 2020 are respectively +0.8% and +2.3%.

Annual average inflation stands at +1.5% during the period under review. The inflation rate in Côte d'Ivoire nevertheless remains below the community threshold, which is 3%.