According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), monthly inflation in Lebanon, as captured by the change in the consumer price index (CPI), stood at a historical 25.36% in April 2020, compared to 7.29% in the previous month, in the light of the sizeable devaluation of the Lebanese Pound in the parallel market. On an annual basis, Lebanon’s CPI rose by 46.55% to 160.90 in April 2020, compared to 109.79 a year earlier as nearly all index constituents saw a significant hike in their respective prices except for housing – water, electricity, gas & other fuels in the light of the tumbling global oil commodity prices. In details, the index portrays a 135.09% annual hike in the prices of clothing & footwear (5.2% weight in the index), a 150.30% increase in the prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (20.0% weight in the index), a 27.72% surge in transportation prices (13.1% weight in the index), and a 91.99% rally in the prices of furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (3.8% weight in the index), not to mention the sharp 167.42% annual rise in the prices of alcoholic beverages & tobacco (1.4% weight in the index). The following section captures the fluctuation in the key constituents of Lebanon’s consumer basket:

On a geographical basis, all regions witnessed a sharp monthly spike in their CPI values, led by the North (31.00%), followed by the Bekaa (26.36%), Nabatieh (26.10%), South (24.93%), Mount Lebanon (24.03%) and Beirut (21.15%) regions.