The development of consumer prices in Curaçao for the month of October 2020

WILLEMSTAD - Figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) announced today show that the price level has increased by 0.1 percent compared to September 2020. The inflation rate has remained the same at 2.3 percent.

Price development in the month of October 2020 compared to the previous month of September 2020

The consumer price index (CPI) of Curaçao has increased by 0.1 percent in the month of October, compared to the month of September 2020, it has developed from 136.4 in September 2020 to 136.5 in October 2020.

The most important price changes during the past month (October 2020) are; tobacco (1.3%), potatoes, vegetables and fruit (1.1%), sugar and chocolate (1.0%) and meat and fish (0.9%) kerosene (-5 , 6%), electricity (-1.9%) and edible fats (-0.2%).

Price development October 2020 compared to October 2019

The October 2020 CPI (136.5) is 2.2 percent higher than the October 2019 CPI (133.6). These figures indicate that the cost of living were 2.2 percent higher in October 2020 than in the same month of 2019. The categories that contributed most to this growth are beverages and tobacco, food and healthcare.

Inflation is a reflection of the loss of monetary value, i.e. purchasing power, because consumer prices for products and services increase over a longer period of time (usually 12 months). The inflation rate is thus an indication of the average increase in the cost of living and is therefore recommended as an indexation tool for salaries, pensions, social benefits, minimum wages and other incomes.

Inflation in a given month is calculated by comparing the 12-month average of the CPI in that month with the 12-month average CPI in the same month a year earlier. Measured over the twelve-month period to October 2020, compared to the same period a year earlier, consumer prices have increased on average by 2.3 percent: the 12-month average CPI has developed from 131.5 in October 2019 to 134.5 in October 2020.