The general index for the month of March recorded 121.95 points, decreasing by 2.56% from the previous month, and by 16.88% from the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2022).
The Planning and Statistics Authority issued the new Producer Price Index (PPI) for the industrial sector for the month of March 2023 using the base year 2018, where the relative importance and prices of the base year 2018 were used. Then the relative importance of the four main sectors that make up the index became as follows: 82.46% of the value of the general index, the manufacturing sector representing 15.85%, the electricity sector representing 1.15%, and the water sector representing 0.52%
Mining and Quarrying Sector: The index for this sector indicates a decrease of 2.94% compared to the previous month (February 2023). The index value of this sector for the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2022) increased by 16.30%.
The Manufacturing Industry Sector: A decrease of 0.76% was observed in the index compared to the previous month (February 2023). It was followed by the chemicals and chemical products industry group by 0.95%, the food products industry group by 0.34%, the cement and other non-metallic mineral products group by 0.29%, and the beverage industry group by 0.05%. As for the increase, it occurred in the rubber and plastics products industry group by 2.76. %, and the base metals industry group (base metals) by 1.62%, while the printing and reproduction of recorded media group did not witness any change in the month of March.
On the other hand, for the same sector, and in terms of annual change, a decrease was observed in the index of 22.03% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2022), due to the decrease in the prices of the chemicals and chemical products industry group by 28.58%, followed by the oil products industry group. Refined by 18.58%, and the base metals industry group (base metals) by 12.93%. While there was an increase in the food products industry group by 5.52%, followed by the rubber and plastics products industry group by 4.70%, the printing and reproduction of recorded media group by 2.88%, the beverage industry group by 1.20%, and the cement and other non-metallic products group by 0.49%.
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sector: an increase in the index of 1.02% was observed compared to the previous month (February 2023), and compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2022), the index for this sector increased by 11.76%.
Water Supply Sector: A decrease was observed in the index of 1.78% compared to the previous month (February 2023), and compared to the corresponding month of the previous year (March 2022), the index of this sector increased by 8.64%.
