Egypt’s headline inflation dips to 34.6% in November

A woman shops at a market in Cairo, Egypt, Oct 9, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File photo

CAIRO  –Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation dropped to 34.6 percent in November from 35.8 percent in October, pulled down by a slowdown in the rate of food price increases, data from the statistics agency Capmas showed on Sunday.

Annual inflation was slightly lower than predicted by analysts. The median forecast of 18 analysts polled had expected a reading of 34.8 percent.

Month-on-month, prices rose by 1.3 percent in November, up from 1 percent in October. Food prices rose by 0.2 percent but surged 64.5 year on year.

Annual inflation had been working its way upwards for two years, hitting a record high of 38 percent in September. The November figure was the lowest since May.

Core inflation, which excludes fuel and some volatile food items, slid to 35.9 percent in November from 38.1 percent in October, central bank data showed on Sunday. A median of six of the analysts surveyed had expected it to decelerate to 37.2 percent.