According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the monthly change in the consumer price index stood at 7.10% in April 2022, compared to 6.10% in the previous month. On an annual basis, Lebanon’s CPI soared by 206.24% to 1,092.21 in April, compared to 356.65 a year earlier. The average annual increase in Lebanon’s CPI stood at 217.16% in the first four months of 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021. All index constituents saw a sharp rise in their respective prices. In details, the index portrays a 374.38% increase in the prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (20.0% weight in the index), a 492.09% surge in transportation prices (13.1% weight in the index) amid the rise in fuel & gasoline prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the total lift of Central Bank subsidies on fuel imports, a shambolic 408.55% rally in the prices of housing – water, electricity, gas & other fuels (11.8% weight in the index), a 170.09% annual appreciation in the prices of clothing & footwear (5.2% weight in the index), not to mention the frantic 320.28% 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 rise in their CPI values, with the largest increase taking place in the North (9.98%) followed by Bekaa (7.41%), Nabatieh (7.37%), South (6.69%), Mount Lebanon (6.31%), and Beirut (5.76%) regions.