According to the Statistical Center of Iran, this group marked the lowest price rise among 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.
The CPI of “communications” stood at 179.4, indicating a 1.5% decline compared with the month before and making it the only group experiencing deflation.
The index, with a coefficient of 2.87%, registered a year-on-year increase of 21.8%, which is also the lowest among the groups under review besides “education”.
The 12 groups of the basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households surveyed by SCI include "food and beverages" with a coefficient of 26.64%, "tobacco" with 0.59%, "clothing and shoes" with 4.78%, "housing, water, electricity, natural gas and other fuels" with 35.5% (highest), "furniture, home appliances and their maintenance" with 3.93%, "health and treatment" with 7.14%, "transportation" with 9.41%, "communications" with 2.87%, "leisure and culture" with 1.65%, "education" with 1.86%, "hotels and restaurants" with 1.44% and "miscellaneous items and services" with a coefficient of 4.18%.
The overall average goods and services Consumer Price Index in the 12-month period ending Feb. 18 increased by 34.2% compared with the corresponding period of last year.
SCI had put the average annual inflation rate for the preceding Iranian month, which ended on Jan. 19, at 32.2%.
The consumer inflation for the month under review (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) registered an increase of 48.2% compared with the similar month of the previous Iranian year. The year-on-year inflation of the month ending Jan. 19 was 46.2%.
The overall CPI (using the Iranian year to March 2017 as the base year) stood at 292.8, indicating a 2.5% rise compared with the month before. Month-on-month consumer inflation was at 1.8% for the preceding month.
SCI put average annual inflation for urban and rural areas at 34.1% and 35%, respectively.
CPI registered a year-on-year increase of 47.2% for urban areas and 53.6% for rural areas in the month ending Feb. 18.
The overall CPI reached 289.5 for urban households and 311.2 for rural households, indicating a month-on-month increase of 2.4% and 3.3% for urban and rural areas, respectively.