Saudi Arabia's consumer prices dropped 1.1 percent year-on-year in August of 2019, following a 1.3 percent decline in the previous month. It was the eighth consecutive month of deflation, although cost fell at a softer pace for housing & utilities (-6.5 percent from -6.7 percent in July) and recreation & culture (-0.2 percent vs -0.4 percent). In addition, prices advanced faster for food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.0 percent vs 0.1 percent); furniture & household equipment (1.4 percent vs 0.8 percent) and miscellaneous goods & services (1.8 percent vs 1.4 percent). On the other hand, cost slowed for transport (1.3 percent vs 1.6 percent) and restaurants & hotels (1.0 percent vs 1.5 percent) while inflation was steady for education (at 1.3 percent) and health (at 1.0 percent). On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.1 percent, at the same pace as in July. Inflation Rate in Saudi Arabia averaged 2.48 percent from 2000 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 11.10 percent in July of 2008 and a record low of -2.20 percent in February of 2019.
Inflation Rate in Saudi Arabia is expected to be -0.90 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Inflation Rate in Saudi Arabia to stand at 2.70 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Saudi Arabia Inflation Rate is projected to trend around 3.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.