Saudi inflation rises slightly to 2.8% in May driven by high rental prices

Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate slightly edged up to 2.8 percent in May 2023, compared to 2.2 percent in May 2022, primarily driven by higher housing prices, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, according to official data.

The report released by the General Authority for Statistics noted that the prices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased annually by 8.4 percent in May, while food and beverages rose by 0.9 percent.

The Kingdom’s inflation rate has shown signs of slowing down over the past few months as it was 2.7 percent in both March and April, while it was 3.4 percent in January and 3 percent in February.