In January, the consumer price index in Uzbekistan increased by 0.72%. This was reported by the Statistics Agency. This figure marked the highest value for the first month of the year since 2023. For comparison, in January 2024, prices rose by 0.64% over the month.
The annual inflation rate stood at 9.89%. Compared to the previous year, it rose by 1.31 percentage points, but significantly decreased compared to 2023, when the growth rate was 12.19%.
Food prices in January increased by 0.8%, showing the highest growth over a monthly period since December 2023. The annual food inflation accelerated to 2.6% (+0.2%).
Vegetables saw a price increase of 6% over the past month, while fats and oils, fish products, and nuts rose by more than 1%. Conversely, the prices for dairy products fell significantly (-3.5%), particularly for eggs (-14.3%). Additionally, there was a slight increase in prices for meat (+0.8%), beverages (+0.6%), and ready-made meals (+0.4%).
Eggplants became more than 50% more expensive, while potatoes increased by almost a quarter. Prices for bell peppers rose by (+13.2%), lemons (+7.9%), and cabbage (+6.9%), while tomatoes and cucumbers decreased by more than 1%, and mandarins by 7.4%.
On an annual basis, the largest price increases were seen in potatoes (+68.1%), carrots (+24.1%), cotton oil (+19.5%) and sunflower oil (+18.1%), lamb (+16.2%), and beef (+14.8%). Eggplants became almost twice as cheap compared to last January, tomatoes and pomegranates fell by more than a third, bell peppers by nearly 30%, and lemons and cucumbers by over a quarter.
Inflation in the consumer goods segment decreased to 0.3% (-0.1%) in January, but accelerated to 7.7% by the end of the year. Clothing, footwear, and furniture became more expensive by 0.3% and 0.4% (for the year – 5.3%, 5.1%, and 5.4% respectively), household appliances increased by 0.3% (5.3% for the year), and medications by 0.7% (25.2% for the year). Prices for electronics rose by 0.1% in January and by 1.7% for the year.
Gasoline prices increased by 1.5% in January, with an annual growth of 3.9%. Methane decreased by 0.1% (+20.9% for the year), while propane fell by 13.2% (+8.3%).
The monthly growth rate for paid services reached its highest point since 2021 at 1.1%. The annual growth rate in January accelerated to 27%, but remains significantly above last year's figures, primarily due to the spring increase in energy tariffs.
Prices in the catering sector rose by 0.6% over the month, while hotel prices increased by 5.7%, with annual growth rates of 11.7% and 10.7% respectively. Rent for housing increased by 0.6% in January and by 13.1% over the year. Train ticket prices rose by 0.9% (13.2% for the year), while road transport increased by 0.8% (11.2%), and airfares decreased by 1.3%.
Earlier, Spot reported that the Central Bank forecasts a slowdown in inflation to the level of 7−8% this year.