St John’s Antigua. The Statistics Division, under the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance releases the CPI for Mar 2026
Year-on-Year Analysis
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March 2026 rose 1.7% over the period March 2025 to March 2026 year. The All-Items Less Food and Energy index increased 2.5%, while the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index fell 1.4%.
Over the twelve months ending March 2026, the Food Index fell by 1.8%, and the Non-Alcoholic Beverage Index increased by 1.9%. The index for Fruit declined 18.6%, largely due to a 25.2% decline in the index for Fresh or Chilled Fruit. The index for Meat and Meat Products fell 7.9%, with several of its subcategories declining: Delicatessen and other Meat Preparations (-13.5%), Pork (-13.3%), and Poultry (-12.6%). The Bread and Cereals index declined by 2.1%, with mixed results across its five subcategories.
The All-Items Less Food and Energy index increased by 2.5%. This increase was influenced primarily by a 47.6% increase in the Transport Services Index. The rise in the Transport Services index was attributed to rising costs of regional and international air fares. Additional indexes with notable increases over the one year period include Education (+13.3%), Recreation and Culture (+5.7%), and Restaurants and Hotels (+4.9%).
Month-to-Month Price Changes
The Consumer Price Index increased 0.8% in March 2026 after remaining unchanged in February 2026. This was driven by increases in Transport Services and Actual Rent for Housing.
The Food Index fell 1.5% following an increase of 0.4% in February 2026. The index for Fruit declined 8.1% with declines in the indexes for Fresh or Chilled Fruit (-8.2%) and Frozen, Preserved or Processed Fruit and Fruit-based Products (-7.7%). The index for Fish and Seafood fell 5.4% as both of its subcategories declined. The index for Fresh chilled or Frozen Fish and Seafood declined by 10.3% and Preserved or Processed Fish and Seafood declined by 3.3%. Other notable changes include Meat and Meat Products (-4.0%), Bread and Cereals (-2.1%), and Food Products N.E.C (-1.9%).
The index for Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose 4.8% in March 2026. The index was affected by increases in the indices for Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa (+13.4%), Soft Drinks (+6.9%) and Fruit and Vegetable Juices (+2.7%).
The index for All Items Less Food and Energy rose 1.3% in March 2026 following a marginal increase of 0.2% in February. The index for Actual Rent for housing rose 6.2% using a composite index. The index for Transport Services rose 1.2%, resulting from a 1.4% increase in the average price of airline fares.
Methodology
What is the consumer price index (CPI) measuring and how is it done?
The All Items Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the main measure of what is commonly called inflation, or headline inflation. It measures the change in prices, on average, from month to month, and from year to year of the goods and services bought by most households.
Prices are collected monthly and quarterly from supermarkets and other suppliers of goods and services. The pattern of household expenditure on these goods and services is derived from a regular household budget (or expenditure) survey (HBS). The prices and spending patterns (known as weights) are then combined to calculate the price indices for groups of goods and services and for the All Items index. These indices are based on expenditure patterns in 2006.
The All Items (or overall) index, with all of its twelve (12) component indices, is published each month.
For a detailed account of the methodology used in calculating the CPI, please call the National Bureau of Statistics.
Copies of the CPI for Mar 2026 can be accessed on the National Bureau of Statistics website www.statistics.gov.ag