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1st Floor, Kaselehlie Building, National Government Comples, Palikir, Pohnpei | |||||
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P. O. Box PS 12 Palikir, Pohnpei Federated States of Micronesia 96941 |
Telephone: (691) 320 2646/5133/2620 Fax No.: (691) 320 5854 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Website: www.fsmstats.fm |
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| STATISTICAL NEWS | ||||||
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FSMDS Release No: 24.01 |
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25 January 2024 |
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Consumer Price Index Statistics |
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 This release gives information on changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the four states - Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. Appendix 1 contains tables with detailed data for FSM and the four states.
Annual Inflation
The annual inflation in the 4th quarter of 2023 was 4.7% for All Groups. In the same quarter of the previous year (2022) the rate was 6.5%, indicating a decrease of 1.8 percentage points (Figure 1).
The largest contributions to the annual inflation for 4th quarter 2023 came from the Food and non-alcoholic beverage division, which increased in prices by 9.2%.(Figure 3).
Annual inflation differs by state .The highest inflation rate that was recorded in this quarter came from Kosrae at 6.6%, followed by Chuuk at 6.0%, Yap at 4.2% and Pohnpei at 3.9%.
 The high inflation rate in Kosrae appears to be caused by the increasing prices for the Transport division, which was recorded at 21.4%. Wheeras, in Pohnpei, Chuuk and Yap the inflation rates were driven by the increasing prices in the Food and non-alcoholic division, which recorded at 10.4%, 14.8%, and at 10.2%, respectively.
Contributions to inflation
The details of the price changes are presented here, comparing the changes between 2022 and 2023 (Figure 3) and the items/products driving these changes (Figure 4).
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Figure 4.
Contribution to Annual Inflation, Q4-23
| Division | Annual Change | Comments: Items contributing to change |
| All Groups | 4.75% | Sum=All Groups % Change |
| Food and non-alcoholic beverages | 9.18% | Higher prices were recorded for bread, fresh tuna, reef fish, doughnuts, soft drinks, ketchup and taro. |
| Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics | 2.19% | Higher prices were recorded for betelnut, beer and liquor. |
| Clothing and footwear | 4.20% | Higher prices were recorded for blouses, laundromats, pants, t-shirts, local dresses and shirts. |
| Housing, water, electricity and gas | -2.12% | Lower prices were recorded for electricity |
| Furnishings and household equipment | 2.54% | Higher prices were recorded for batteries, towels, bleaches, tupperwares, fans, washing machines, and air conditioners. |
| Health | 5.16% | Higher prices were recorded for prescription medicine. |
| Transport | 2.18% | Higher prices were recorded for airfare, automobile services, and motor oil. |
| Communication | 0.10% | Higher prices of were recorded for cell phones. |
| Recreation and culture | 1.75% | Higher prices were recorded for notebooks. |
Appendix 1: Detailed tables
| Table 1 | Indexes by COICOP category and State |
| Table 2 | Quarterly changes by COICOP category and State |
| Table 3 | Annual changes by COICOP category and State |
| Table 4 | Quarterly contributions by COICOP category and State |
| Table 5 | Annual contributions by COICOP category and State |
/s/
Brihmer S. Johnson
Assistant Secretary for Statistics
