Muscat: Oman has experienced a 0.7% rise in inflation for June 2024, compared to the same month last year, as revealed by the Consumer Price Index data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

The rise is largely attributed to increases in several key categories. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages surged by 3.8%, while miscellaneous goods and services climbed 3.3%. Health-related costs saw a 2.4% rise, with culture and entertainment up 0.5%, restaurants and hotels by 0.4%, tobacco by 0.2%, and clothing and footwear by 0.1%.

Conversely, some categories experienced a decline. Transportation costs fell by 2%, education by 0.4%, furniture, household equipment, and routine home maintenance decreased by 0.2%. Communications also saw a slight dip of 0.1%, while housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels remained stable.

In the food sector, vegetable prices soared by 13.3%, followed by fruits at 7.3%, milk, cheese, and eggs at 4.1%, and fish and seafood at 3.4%. Other notable increases included meat at 2%, sugar, jam, honey, and sweets at 2%, and bread and cereals at 0.5%.

Regional data highlights varying inflation rates across the country. Al Wusta Governorate recorded the highest inflation increase at 1.8%, followed by Musandam Governorate at 1.6% and North Al Sharqiyah Governorate at 1.5%. Other regions also saw rises, with South Al Sharqiyah and Dhofar Governorates up 1.4% and North Al Batinah up 1.2%.