According to the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS), the monthly change in the consumer price index stood at 7.55% in August 2022, compared to 7.42% in the previous month. On an annual basis, Lebanon’s CPI soared by 161.89% to 1,486.59 in August, compared to 567.65 a year earlier. The average annual increase in Lebanon’s CPI stood at 202.56% in the first eight 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 198.11% increase in the prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (20.0% weight in the index), a 294.85% surge in transportation prices (13.1% weight in the index) amid the rise in fuel & gasoline prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a shambolic 394.27% rally in the prices of housing – water, electricity, gas & other fuels (11.8% weight in the index), a 143.70% annual appreciation in the prices of clothing & footwear (5.2% weight in the index), not to mention the frantic 194.66% 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 Nabatieh (8.57%) followed by the South (8.16%), Mount Lebanon (7.54%), Beirut (7.52%), Bekaa (7.34%), and the North (7.10%) regions.