Saudi Arabia's consumer prices declined 2.1 percent from a year earlier in March 2019, after a 2.2 percent decrease in the previous month. It was the third straight month of decline in consumer prices, as the impact of VAT implementation in 2018 faded. Cost continued to decrease for housing & utilities (-8.1 percent vs -8.2 percent in February); transport (-0.9 percent vs -0.8 percent); furnishings & household equipment (-0.4 percent vs -0.7 percent); clothing & footwear (-1.5 percent vs -1.2 percent) and communication (-1.1 percent vs -1.0 percent). Meanwhile, prices for food & beverages increased faster (1.2 percent vs 0.8 percent) while inflation for restaurants & hotels was steady (at 1.5 percent). On a monthly basis, consumer prices went down 0.1 percent, following a 0.2 percent drop in February. Inflation Rate in Saudi Arabia averaged 2.57 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 -1.80 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 2.50 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.