Lebanon’s consumer price inflation declined to 1.45 percent year-on-year in July 2019 from 1.69 percent in the previous month. It was the lowest inflation rate since October 2016, as cost slowed for food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.63% vs 2.36% in June); housing & utilities (0.03% vs 0.10%); restaurants & hotels (1.23% vs 1.49%); recreation & culture (6.72% vs 7.10%), and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (0.54% vs 0.74%). Additionally, prices dropped further for health (-1.94% vs -1.30%) and communication (-0.65% vs -0.49%). Meantime, prices advanced at a faster pace for miscellaneous goods & services (2.39% vs 2.15%) and furnishings & household equipment (5.95% vs 5.42%) and inflation was steady for education (at 5.08%). Also, cost of transport fell less (-1.37% vs -1.54%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices decreased 0.33 percent, following a 0.84 percent fall in June. Inflation Rate in Lebanon averaged 2.68 percent from 2008 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 11.10 percent in October of 2012 and a record low of -4.67 percent in September of 2015.
Inflation Rate in Lebanon is expected to be 1.30 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate in Lebanon to stand at 2.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Lebanon Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 2.40 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.