Weekly Goods Price Report: SCAD Monitors Prices Of 332 Consumer Goods

In light of the unprecedent challenges facing the current economic situation, and the need to keep decision-makers and consumers alike informed on goods prices in the Emirate, the Statistics Centre – Abu Dhabi (SCAD) released the results of the ‘Weekly Goods Price Report’ for the first week of April 2020, where it oversaw and quantified changes in the economy by monitoring the prices of 332 consumer goods, categorised in ten spending groups.

SCAD noted that these findings lead to better informed consumers, and gives a clear indication of the prices of food and non-food goods that are of interest to consumers. The current statistics show that food goods represent 82.6% of all 332 consumer goods, leaving non-food goods at 17.4%. This indicates a 3.7% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of food and non-food goods in the first week of April compared to February 2020.

This expected increase was driven by the rise in prices of some goods that were affected by the consequences of the current economic situation, and a drop in prices of many other goods that were affected by the sudden and rapid change in consumer behavior – a change that is happening all over the world.

Food Goods

The CPI for food goods in the following groups increased by 3.2% in the first week of April 2020 compared to February 2020: meat, fish and seafood, milk, cheese and eggs, fruits and pulses.

This rise was driven by an increased demand for certain basic food goods, due to families’ tendencies to store food, as well as the substantial increase witnessed in the prices of the fish and seafood group, which contributed 33.6% to the overall increase rate during the first week of April 2020 compared to February 2020. Prices of the aforementioned group increased by 13.7% compared to February 2020, and represents 9.1% of the index weight.

Non-food Goods

The CPI for non-food goods in the following groups increased by 6.2% in the first week of April 2020 compared to the previous month: soaps and disinfectants, laundry detergents, air fresheners and furniture cleaning materials, masks, gloves, cold and flu medicines and analgesics, as well as gems and jewelry.

This increase was driven by a greater demand for some groups, such as the significant increase in the prices of masks, gloves, cold and flu medicines and analgesics group, noting a 26.4% rise in the prices of the materials of this group in the first week of April 2020 compared to February 2020. It contributed 26.6% of the overall increase in the first week of April 2020 compared to February 2020, and represents 3.7% of the index weight. On the other hand, prices of soaps and disinfectants group decreased by 1.4%.

SCAD pointed out that given the low domestic demand for many goods and services, the prices of some consumer goods will witness further decline, which is expected to be reflected in the price slowdown. SCAD noted that following the economic measures recently taken by the country have achieved positive results at local and federal levels.

These food and non-food goods and their lists of products were meticulously chosen, and their prices are monitored on an ongoing basis. Prices for these goods are collated from several retail stores in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and on a regular basis. These include supermarkets and pharmacies, while taking into account that goods are in the same specifications and quantities and not collected from open markets.