General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT): Stability in Wholesale Price Index, December 2018

On Wednesday, the 17th of Jumada al-Awwal 1440H corresponding January 23, 2019, The General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) released its monthly indicator for Wholesale Price Index (December 2018) on its official website www.stats.gov.sa.
 

The wholesale price index stabilized at (116.9) in December 2018, and did not record any change compared to the previous month (November 2018).

The indicator includes five sections, which are: agriculture and fishery products section, ores and minerals section, food and beverages products, tobacco and textiles section, mineral products, machines and equipment section and other goods.

Today’s report attributed the index’s stability of the wholesale prices of December to the changes of the five sections composing the index, where two of them have increased; which are: mineral products, machines and equipment section (0.5%) and other goods (0.1%).

In turn, three sections went down, which are: agriculture and fishery products section (1.4%), food, beverages, tobacco and textiles (0.4%), raw materials and metals (0.1%).

Wholesale price index in Saudi Arabia measures average changes in goods prices and services sold in primary markets taking into consideration that the change is only in price, so consequently, all changes resulting from variation in qualities or discount in quantities or variation in method of shipping and other influential factors are excluded to get only net price after excluding all the mentioned indicators. This number is for everyone and it is prepared based on Saudi Arabia

Additionally, wholesale price index is used to monitor changes in the prices of local or imported goods, which are dealt with in the market, consequently to identify price trends and market conditions. The wholesale price index is an important tool to prepare national accounts, by saving income and national accounts from the impact of price change.