Oman’s Producer Price Index rises 1% in Q1 2023

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman’s producer price index in the first quarter of 2023 recorded an increase of one percent, compared to the same period in 2022, according to data issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information.

Prices of oil and gas products led this increase, registering a growth of 2 percent, while non-oil products recorded a decrease of 4 percent.

The increase in the prices of oil and gas products is attributed to the increase in the prices of crude oil products and natural gas by 2.8 percent, while refined oil products decreased by 2.9 percent.

The decrease in the prices of non-oil products is due to the decrease in the prices of the manufacturing industries group by 5.5 percent, in which most of the prices of the sub-groups decreased in varying proportions, as the prices of metal products, machinery and equipment decreased by 13.5 percent, and the prices of other transportable commodities products by 3.1 percent.

In the food, beverage and textile products group, the prices of beverages increased by 8.5 percent, the prices of woven fabric products by 35 percent, shoes by 1.8 percent, bakery products and other food products by 2.3 percent, while the prices of dairy products decreased by 0.5 percent, and the prices of clothing products were stable. In the group of other transportable goods, the prices of: chemical products decreased by 5.8 percent, glass, cement and marble products by 1.6 percent, dyes and pharmaceutical products by 0.4 percent, furniture products and other goods by 0.3 percent, and re-melted iron waste products by 1 percent.

Prices of rubber and plastic products increased by 2.2 percent. In the group of metal products, machinery and equipment, the prices of: iron, steel or aluminum ore and products decreased by 21.4 percent, the prices of power transformers, electricity distribution and connection devices, and cables by 11.5 percent, empty compressed cylinders by 7.1 percent, and the prices of air conditioning units and car oil filters by 0.2 percent. , and products made of iron, steel, or aluminum by 2.4 percent, and water heaters by 2.9 percent.

On the other hand, the prices of the mining, electricity and water group increased by 1.7 percent, due to the increase in the prices of the sub-groups represented in mineral ores by 45.1 percent, and stones and sands by 13.8 percent.