Guernsey Quarterly Inflation Bulletin released

Friday 20 April 2012

The Guernsey RPIX and RPI are measures of inflation used in Guernsey. They measure the change in the prices of goods and services bought for the purpose of consumption or use by households in Guernsey. The indices are published quarterly by the States of Guernsey Policy and Research Unit. The calculation of the RPIX and RPI are based on the price change of items within a ‘shopping basket’. Whilst some prices rise over time, others will fall or fluctuate and the indices represent the average change in these prices. More detailed information on the calculation of these indices can be found at the end of this handout.

Headlines

• Guernsey’s annual inflation as measured by RPIX (‘core’ inflation excluding mortgage interest payments) was 3.2% in the year ending March 2012, compared to 2.8% in the year ending December 2011 and 2.9% in the year ending March 2011.

• In the UK the equivalent RPIX figure for the year ending March 2012 was 3.7% (see Figure 1.2.1)1.

• Eleven of the fourteen RPIX groups increased in the year ending March 2012.

• The housing group made the largest upward contribution to the annual change in RPIX in March 2012, contributing 0.8 percentage points.

• The ‘all items’ RPI inflation rate was 3.5% in the year ending March 2012, compared to 3.2% in the year ending December 2011 and 2.9% in the year ending March 2011.