Annual inflation was 6.4 % in February

The Consumer Price Index increased by 0.3 percent compared to the previous month, while the annual inflation rate amounted to 6.4 percent in February 2020, according to the Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat).

As for the annual core inflation1, the prices increased by 4.6 percent, while the annual core inflation without tobacco2 amounted to 3.8 percent.

The annual inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for the following groups: Food and non-alcoholic beverages: the prices in the group increased by 12.7 percent, contributing 3.95 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate. Within the group the prices were higher for the following subgroups: fruit and grapes (25.1 percent), milk, cheese and eggs (19.2 percent), meat (15.1 percent), sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery (11.2 percent), vegetables (11.1 percent), fish (10.3 percent), mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (8.7 percent), oils and fats (7.4 percent), bread and cereals (5.6 percent) and coffee, tea and cocoa (5.0 percent); Restaurants and hotels: the prices went up by 8.7 percent, contributing 0.39 percentage points to the overall annual inflation rate. The prices in the group increased for catering services (9.5 percent) and accommodation services (1.3 percent).