Fifteen out of 24 food items examined by SCI showed a price increase month-on-month.
The biggest price rise for a food item during the month under review was recorded for lentils with 37.4%, with a kilogram of lentils selling for 200,337 rials ($1.17).
The second and third biggest MOM price increase during the period was registered for oranges with 32.5% and apples with 27.5%, the Statistical Center of Iran’s website reported.
A kilogram of oranges was sold at 107,596 rials (63 cents) and a kilogram of apples went for 113,700 rials (66 cents) last month.
The sharpest price declines in the period were recorded for onions with 48.2%, followed by cucumbers with 18.9% and tomatoes with 18.5% MOM.
A kilogram of onions was sold at 44,937 rials (26 cents), a kilogram of cucumbers went for 45,942 rials (27 cents) and a kilogram of tomatoes was priced at 52,290 rials (30 cents).
Compared with the same month of the year before, the retail prices for lentils during the month increased by 111.3%, registering the highest year-on-year price rise for a food item last month.
The second and third biggest year-on-year price rises in the same month among food items were registered for foreign packed tea with 77% and pinto beans with 60.2%.
Five-hundred grams of packed foreign tea was sold at 606,490 rials ($3.56) and a kilogram of pinto beans went for 248,821 rials ($1.46) last month.
Year-on-year price deflations were registered for nine food items, such that the sharpest price decreases were posted for onions with 39.1% and cucumbers with 17.5%.
With a coefficient of 26.64%, the CPI of food and beverage stood at 242.6 in the month ending May 20, indicating a 0.3% increase compared with the month before. The food and beverage index registered a YOY increase of 11.9%.
In the 12-month period ending May 20, CPI for the group increased by 31.6% compared with last year’s corresponding period.
The overall average goods and services CPI in the 12-month period ending May 20 increased by 29.8% compared with the corresponding period of last year, latest data released by SCI show.
SCI had put the average annual inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month, which ended on April 19, 2020, at 32.2%.
The consumer inflation for the month under review (April 20-May 20) registered a year-on-year increase of 21% compared with the similar month of the previous Iranian year. The year-on-year inflation of the month ending April 19 was 19.8%.
The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 210 last month, indicating a 2.5% rise compared with the month before.
CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 21.3% for urban areas and 19.3% for rural areas in the month ending May 20.
The overall CPI reached 208.7 for urban households and 217.1 for rural households, indicating a month-on-month increase of 2.6% and 2.1% for urban and rural areas, respectively.
SCI put urban and rural average annual inflation for the month under review at 29.7% and 30.8% respectively.
The highest and lowest monthly growth in the index among 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households in the Iranian month ending May 20 was recorded for transportation and education with 8.6% and 0.1%, respectively.
The highest and lowest year-on-year inflation in the month ending May 20 was posted for transportation (48.4%) and communications (6.5%), and the highest and lowest annual inflation was registered for transportation (45.7%) and communications (10.7%).