Muscat: Data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) show that the Producer Price Index (PPI) in the Sultanate of Oman registered a rise of 40.7% during the second quarter of this year (2022), compared to the corresponding period in 2021.
Oil and gas products took the lead in the upward trend, constituting 48.7%, while non-oil products registered 7.8%.
PPI data from a quarterly survey conducted by the NCSI point to the fact that the hike in prices of oil and gas products results from a 50.3% rise in prices of refined oil products and a 48.4% rise in crude oil and natural gas.
The growth in prices of non-oil products is attributed to a 9.4% rise in prices of the converting industries group and a 1.8% rise in the mining, electricity and water group.
In the converting industries group, the prices of most sub-groups grew in varying proportions: Foodstuff prices increased by 15.2%, mineral products, machinery and equipment by 11.6% and other movables by 5.7%.
A breakup of figures shows that, in the Foodstuff and Textiles Group, the prices of fisheries, fruits, vegetables and oils grew by 34.8%, textiles by 11.7%, beverages by 8.6%, dairy products by 8.5%, bakery and other food products by 3.9% and footwear items by 2.7%.
In the Minerals, Machinery and Equipment Group, the prices of products made from iron, steel or aluminium grew by 35.7%, vacant compressed cylinder products by 15.4%, crude, iron, steel and aluminium up by 11.4% and water heater products up by 10.4%, while the prices of power transformers, cables and electrical appliances registered an increase of 6.1%.
As for the Movables Group, the prices of paints and pharmaceutical items grew by 13%, chemical products by 11.6%, rubber and plastics by 6%, re-melted iron waste by 4.9% and paper products by 1.6%, while the prices of glass products, cement and marble went down by 6.1%.
