According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the monthly change in the consumer price index  stood at -3.13% in February 2022, compared to 7.69% in the previous month on the back of the frantic appreciation in the value of the local currency against the USD in the black market. On an annual basis, however, Lebanon’s CPI soared by 214.59% to 961.15 in February, compared to 305.53 a year earlier. The average monthly increase in Lebanon’s CPI stood at 2.28% in the first two months of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. All index constituents saw a sharp rise in their respective prices. In details, the index portrays a 183.92% annual appreciation in the prices of clothing & footwear (5.2% weight in the index), a 396.00% increase in the prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (20.0% weight in the index), a 510.28% surge in transportation prices (13.1% weight in the index), and a shambolic 372.30% rally in the prices of housing – water, electricity, gas & other fuels (11.8% weight in the index), not to mention the frantic 448.61% rise in the prices of restaurants & hotels (2.8% 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 saw a monthly drop in their CPI values, with the largest drop taking place in the North (3.97%) followed by Nabatieh (3.59%), South (3.39%), Mount Lebanon (3.18%), Bekaa (2.24%), and Beirut (1.80%) regions.