Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In December 2021, goods and services in the consumer market increased on average by 1.26%, the State Statistics Committee said in a report. In general, in 2021, the increase in prices in the consumer sector amounted to 9.98%.

The average monthly growth of the consolidated CPI for January-December 2021 amounted to 0.8%. A year earlier, this figure was 0.1 points higher, and in 2019 it was 0.4 points higher than in 2021.

The leaders in the growth of prices and tariffs for the month in December 2021 were food products, which increased in price by an average of 2.0% over the month. Non-food products for the same period added in price by 0.8%, paid services to the population - by 0.5%.

In general, in 2021, inflationary processes were most pronounced in the group of food products, which, on average, rose by 13.0% over this period. Non-food products and paid services to the population have become more expensive over the year by 7.8% and 7.7%, respectively.

In December 2021, due to the increase in food prices, the consolidated CPI for the month increased by 0.9 percentage points (versus 0.8 percentage points in November 2021), non-food products - by 0.3 percentage points (a month earlier also 0.3 p.p.). The growth in tariffs for services added another 0.1 percentage points to the consolidated indicator (in the previous month it also added 0.1 p. p.)

The share of the contribution of growth in food prices in the total increase in the consolidated CPI in January-December 2021 reached 55.2% of the total increase in the consolidated CPI (versus 52.9% in January-November this year). Non-food products accounted for 27.0%, services - 17.8% of the total contribution of all goods and services covered by price monitoring.

The CPI growth for food products in the last month of 2021 amounted to 2.0%. This is 0.4 points lower than in December 2020 and 1.3 points lower than in December 2019.

The average monthly CPI growth in this group of goods for JanuaryDecember 2021 was at the level of 1.0%. Thus, the increase in food prices in December 2021 was 1 point higher than the monthly average for 2021.

In general, in 2021, food prices increased by 13.0%, which is 2.3 points lower than in 2020, and 5.6 points lower than in 2019.

The increase in the CPI for non-food products in December this year amounted to 0.8% over the month. This is 0.2 points higher than the average monthly growth for January-December 2021, 0.1 points lower than in December 2020, and 0.3 points higher than in December 2019.

The increase in the annual CPI in this group in December 2021 was recorded at around 7.8%, which is 1 point lower than in December last year, and 3.1 points lower than in December 2019.

The increase in the CPI for paid services in December this year amounted to 0.5% for the month. This is 0.4 points lower than in December last year, and 0.2 points higher than the same indicator for December 2019.

The average monthly CPI growth for paid services to the population in 2021 reached 0.6%. Thus, the CPI growth in this group for December 2021 was 0.1 points lower than this monthly average.

In general, in 2021, paid services to the population have become more expensive by 7.7%. This, in turn, is 0.6 points higher than in 2020 and 7.5 points lower than in 2019.

In December 2021, fruit and vegetable products traditionally became the leaders in terms of price growth for the month. Thus, fruits and nuts added in price, compared to November 2021, by 5.6%, vegetables, tubers, plantains and legumes - by 8.0%. On the other hand, meat products fell slightly over the month (by 0.2% on average).

Of the main product groups in this section, the top three in terms of price growth for 2021 included fat and oil products (26.4%), vegetables, tubers, plantains and legumes (22.6%), sugar, confectionery and desserts (14.8%).

In addition, prices for fruits and nuts (14.5%), fish and other seafood (12.2%), as well as meat products (11.6%) increased significantly.

In December 2021, of the main foodstuffs (excluding fruits and vegetables), the prices most significantly increased over the month for fresh milk (2.4%), flour (1.9%), butter and granulated sugar (1.6%)

A decrease in prices was noted for eggs (-0.3%), rice of all varieties and rice cuts (-0.2%), beef and lamb (within 0.2-0.7%), poultry (within the range of 0.2- 0.5%).

The leading positions in price growth for 2021 belong to vegetable oil (1.3 times) and sand sugar (25.4%). A decrease in prices was recorded for rice (within 1.9-5.4%).

In December 2021, eggplants (2.1 times) became the leaders in the growth of prices for the month from fruit and vegetable products. In addition, prices for cucumbers and bell peppers (1.9 times), as well as tomatoes (1.3 times) rose significantly. Radish (-4.7%), bananas (-4.0%) and carrots (-3.6%) are in the leading positions in terms of price reductions over the month. The most significant increase in prices for the year among the goods of the fruit and vegetable group was recorded for cabbage (1.7 times), carrots (1.6 times), beets, peaches and eggplants (1.4 times). Cucumbers (-26.0%), bell peppers (-15.1%) and bananas (-12.2%) were among the top three leaders in terms of price reductions over the year.

The main inflationary factor in section I. Food and non-alcoholic drinks in December 2021 was the rise in prices for fruits and vegetables. Due to the seasonal increase in prices for goods in this group, the consolidated CPI for the month increased by 0.6 percentage points. A significant contribution was also made by price changes for cereals and cereals (0.11 p.p.), sugar, confectionery and desserts (0.05 p.p.), milk, dairy products and eggs (0.04 p.p.). The contribution of other groups did not exceed 0.02 p.p. The restraining factor was the decrease in prices for meat products, due to which the consolidated CPI fell by 0.02 percentage points.

The top three in terms of contribution to the growth of the consolidated CPI for 2021 from the main groups of food and nonalcoholic beverages included price changes for vegetables, tubers, plantains and legumes, as well as for meat and fat and oil products. In total, due to the rise in prices for these three groups, the consolidated CPI since the beginning of the year has increased by 2.88 percentage points, which is 55.4% of the total contribution of food products and non-alcoholic beverages and over 28% of the total increase in the consolidated CPI.

In December 2021, alcoholic beverages became more expensive by 1.0% over the month, including alcoholic beverages and liqueurs - by 1.1%, wine - by 0.7%, beer - by 0.3%. During the same period, tobacco products rose in price by 0.3%. By the level of December 2020, alcoholic beverages increased in price by 10.4%, including alcoholic beverages and liqueurs - by 11.8%, wine - by 7.5%, beer - by 6.5%. Since the beginning of the year, tobacco products have risen in price by 12.1%.

Since September 2021, the rate of growth in rental prices has accelerated. The rent for rented apartments in the last quarter of the year increased by 4.4%, including in December - by 1.5%. At the same time, prices and tariffs for the main types of utilities remained at the level of the previous month.

Over the month, services for the maintenance and repair of residential premises have become more expensive by 1.5%, materials for the repair and maintenance of housing - by 1.0%.

As for the increase in prices in annual terms, the leadership belongs to services for cold water supply and sewerage, which have become 1.6 times more expensive.

Of the main groups of goods and services in this section, the most significant rise in price over the month was for lighting equipment (1.7%), and the leaders in annual terms in terms of price growth were sewing services for textiles used in households (14.8%).

Of the main observed groups of goods and services in the health care sector in December 2021, as in the previous month, immunization services (1.5%) became the leaders in price growth over the month.

The lead in price growth for 2021 belongs to diagnostic imaging services and medical laboratories (an increase of 10.4% and 11.6%, respectively).

In the last month of 2021, the most significant increase in this section was observed in prices and tariffs for passenger transportation, as well as for the transportation of goods (0.6% each). At the same time, the cost of travel on longdistance trains over the month increased by 4.3%, air travel on international routes - by 2.3%. The restraining factor was the decrease in prices for gasoline and propane, which in December became cheaper by 1.1% and 2.9%, respectively.

The undisputed leader in terms of price growth in general for 2021 in the "Transport" section is gasoline, which, relative to the end of 2020, has become 1.6 times more expensive.

In December 2021, the range of monthly price increases for the observed types of information and communication equipment ranged from 0.3% (TVs) to 1.0% (computers and tablets). Services for the repair of information and communication equipment (15.0%), as well as equipment for receiving, recording and reproducing sound and images (10.7%), are leading by a significant margin in terms of price increases in January-December 2021.

In the field of education, in December 2021, there was an increase in the cost of tutoring services (0.8%), as well as tuition fees for foreign language courses and similar educational courses (1.4%), while the price level in the field of paid preschool and higher education for the month has not changed. The leaders in annual price growth were services provided by state educational organizations in the field of preschool education (15.0%).

Over the last month of the year, ready-made food in cafes, canteens and fast food outlets increased in price within 1.6 - 2.1%, fees for hotel services, hotels and similar hotel services increased by 0.3%, services of recreation centers, camping and similar hotel services have not undergone significant price changes. At the same time, the latter are the leaders in terms of price growth in annual terms (18.2%).

The cost of insurance services remained stable throughout 2021. In the financial services sector, in December, the peak value for 2021 of the increase in fees for remittances (by 1.0% per month) was registered, which is associated with a change in the exchange rate of the national currency against the US dollar.

At the same time, in general for 2021, financial services became more expensive by 0.8%. During 2021, the cost of services of banking institutions increased by 2.6%, fees for money transfers - by 3.7%, services for transferring funds through electronic payment systems, on the contrary, became cheaper by 5.0%.

In December 2021, among the main groups of goods and services in this section, the leading positions in price growth were taken by hairdressing services (2.5%) and personal service establishments (1.4%). The leadership in price growth for 2021 belongs to hairdressing services. Over the past year, they have added in price by 25.0%.

The unconditional dominance of the contribution of price changes for food and non-alcoholic beverages manifested itself in the structure of the contribution to the growth of the short-term aggregate indicator for December 2021. These goods accounted for over 65% of the total monthly CPI growth. A significant contribution was also made by price changes for clothing and footwear, whose share in the structure of CPI growth for the month amounted to 11.2%.

The domination of food inflation also manifested itself in the structure of the consolidated CPI for January-December 2021. Thus, due to the rise in prices for food products and non-alcoholic beverages, the aggregate indicator for the year increased by 5.2 percentage points. with an overall increase of 10.0 p.p. In specific terms, food and non-alcoholic beverages account for over half of the total impact of the observed goods and services.