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The General Authority for Statistics placed the annual increase in the producer price index at 5.1 percent for August as manufacturing accounted for the dominant share of the advance. Manufacturing prices rose 5.3 percent and carried a weight of 91.2 percent within the index according to the authority’s breakdown. Electricity gas steam and air conditioning supply prices gained 2.2 percent while water supply sewerage and waste management activities increased 4.2 percent the GASTAT report showed.
GASTAT figures show that refined petroleum products advanced 4.8 percent within manufacturing while chemicals and chemical products climbed 10.5 percent. Food products rose 5.4 percent basic metals gained 8.6 percent and wearing apparel increased 13.4 percent the authority’s data indicate. Offsetting movements included a 3.1 percent decline in fabricated metal products excluding machinery and equipment together with a 3.5 percent drop in other economic activities.
The same GASTAT release recorded a 1.9 percent annual increase in the consumer price index for August underscoring differing pressures between producer and consumer levels. The producer price index measures average changes in selling prices received by domestic producers for their output the authority explained in its methodology notes. This August reading follows a 5.3 percent annual gain that GASTAT reported for the index in July.
On a monthly basis producer prices edged higher by 0.1 percent in August from the prior month according to the General Authority for Statistics. The modest sequential increase reflected continued momentum in manufacturing and utilities divisions the authority’s assessment found. Such month to month shifts supplement the annual comparisons that form the headline indicator.
The authority publishes the producer price index each month drawing on surveys of industrial producers across the kingdom. Earlier GASTAT data for wholesale prices showed a separate 4.6 percent annual rise in August driven by an 8.2 percent increase in other transportable goods. Basic chemicals within that category surged 51.4 percent the wholesale price report detailed providing broader context for cost trends at the production level.
