Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In January 2019, prices for goods and services in the consumer market of Uzbekistan increased on average by 1.5%, the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan said.

Products for the month went up by 1.8%, including food - by 2.8%, non-food - by 0.5%. Services have become more expensive by 0.5%.

In January 2018, within a month, prices for goods increased by 3.0%, services - by 1.4%. Food products increased by 3.5%, non-food products - by 2.3% in 2018.

Analysis of the structure of the impact of price changes for the month showed that in January 2019, the main contribution to the growth of the composite consumer price index, taking into account the proportion of each enlarged group, made price changes for food products (1.2 percentage points).

In January 2018, the contribution of rising food prices also dominated; the impact of higher tariffs on services was minimal.

In January 2019, the contribution of growth in food prices to increase in the consolidated CPI was 80.0%, which is higher than in the same period of 2018.

As noted above, food prices rose by 2.8% for the month, which ensured CPI growth of 1.2 percentage points. In January 2018, the rise in prices for foodstuffs ensured a 1.6 pp increase in the consolidated CPI.

Of the main food products, leadership in the growth of prices belongs to fruit and vegetable products, which in a month became 8.3% more expensive. Alcoholic beverages are on the second place in terms of price increase (3.7%).

According to the degree of influence on the CPI aggregate indicator, taking into account the share of each group of products, the top three include fruits and vegetables (impact 0.7 pp), bread products (0.2 pp) and dairy products (0.1 p. P.)

Regarding January 2018, a rise in prices was registered for almost all major groups of food products, with the exception of eggs.

In January 2019, prices continued to rise for main types of bread products: flour, bread and bakery products, rice and the main types of cereals and legumes for the month went up in the range from 0.2% to 3.7%.

In January, rice went up in the Ferghana region (4.7%) and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (4.5%) most significantly. Minimum was the rise in prices for the month in Namangan region (1.1%).

Prices of wheat flour significantly increased in the Republic of Karakalpakstan (6.9%) and the Surkhandarya region (5.5%) in the past month; the price increase in Khorezm region (0.6%) was minimal. In Andijan, Bukhara, Navoi, Namangan, Samarkand and Ferghana regions, the price of flour has not changed in a month.

Bread made from top-grade flour rose in price in three regions: the Republic of Karakalpakstan (13.3%), Surkhandarya region (9.6%) and Tashkent (13.1%).

Prices for first-grade flour bread increased in the Republic of Karakalpakstan (1.2%), Surkhandarya (6.6%) and Fergana (5.0%) oblasts.

In January 2019, meat and poultry were added to the price of 0.9%, fish and canned food from it - 2.0%.

The most significant beef (except for boneless meat) went up in Tashkent (2.8%) and Surkhandarya (1.5%) regions, lamb and boneless beef - in Tashkent region (2.5% and 3.7%), chicken drumstick and chicken legs - in Kashkadarya and Tashkent regions (3.4%), other poultry meat - in Samarkand (3.8%) and Tashkent (3.7%) regions.

Higher than in other regions, there was an increase in milk prices in Tashkent (10.6%), Jizzakh and Namangan regions (7.9%).

In January 2019, prices for fruits and vegetables increased by an average of 8.3%.

The increase in prices was registered for almost all types of fruits and vegetables, with the exception of citrus fruits, which became cheaper by 1.0%.

From fruits and vegetables in January 2019, the maximum price increase for the month was registered for grapes (1.3 times), watermelons (22.0%) and tomatoes (16.3%). In addition to the types indicated in the infographics, the price increase was also noted for pumpkin (8.6%), cucumbers (8.0%), garlic (5.1%), pickled cucumbers and tomatoes (3.4%), beets (1, 7%), walnuts (1.2%), dried fruits (1.1%).

In annual terms (in January 2019 compared to January 2018) fruit and vegetable products, on average, became more expensive by 5.0%. The range of price changes over a specified period for the products of this group was more significant. Thus, the prices for cabbage rose to the maximum (by 2.5 times), most of all they decreased by garlic (by 43.5%).

Of the other observed groups of food products, oil and fat products for the first month of 2019 went up by 1.6%, including butter - by 3.0%, margarine - by 2.7%, cottonseed oil - by 1.2%, sunflower oil - 1.1%.

Sugar, tea and other foods on average per month increased by 1.2%.

A 0.5% increase in prices for non-food products in January 2019 resulted in a 0.2 pp increase in the consolidated CPI.

In January, printing products (16.9%) were in the leading position on price growth from non-food products. Price increases are registered in almost all regions of the country. The exceptions were Jizzakh, Navoi, Surkhandarya, Syrdarya regions and Tashkent, where prices for the types of printed publications observed remained at the level of December 2018.

However, according to the degree of influence on the consolidated CPI for January 2019, taking into account the specific weight of each group, two groups of goods divided the primacy: printed matter and clothing (the effect was 0.03 pp).

Price increases in the range from 0.2% to 1.5% were recorded for almost all major types of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing.

Fuel prices for cars for the month increased by 0.7%. Against the background of the stability of gasoline prices, methane went up by 9.4%, propane became cheaper by 14.4%.

Higher than in other regions, the price increase for methane was recorded in Syrdarya region (1.2 times per month), the rise in prices in Bukhara region was minimal (by 3.1%).

Prices for propane decreased almost throughout the country, with the exception of Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions, where price increases were registered in January.

Tariffs for services for the population in January 2019 increased by 0.5%, which led to an increase in the consolidated CPI for the month by 0.1 percentage points

The most significant thing for the month was the rise in recreation services (by 4.2%). Since January, the stay in sanatoriums and rest houses has increased by 4.6%, in hotels by 4.3%, and the fees for services of organizations in the sphere of tourism have increased by 2.9%. The increase in the cost of hotel services, sanatoriums and rest homes has been registered in five regions: the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Andijan, Namangan, Samarkand regions and Tashkent.

In other regions, prices for these services remained at the level of the end of 2018. Tourist trips went up in price only in  Samarkand region (by 26.3%), and therefore the indicator of price growth over the month in this area in the republic was 2.9%.

The second place in terms of the growth of tariffs is occupied by household services, which have risen in price by 1.2% over the month. Most noticeably, their tariffs increased in Khorezm (by 2.6%), Kashkadarya (by 2.5%) and Samarkand (by 1.6%) regions. The minimum was the growth of tariffs in Syrdarya region (by 0.4%).

In addition to these types, an increase in the cost of bath and shower services (by 3.0%), parking fees for motor vehicles (by 2.2%), rental services (by 2.0%), and individual tailoring of shoes (by 2%) and . photocopying (1.0%) were registered in January.

The top three leaders in tariff growth in January are passenger transport services. For a month they became more expensive by 0.9%.

The increase in tariffs for passenger transport services led to an increase in inflation by 0.03 percentage points:

• taxi fares became more expensive in Bukhara (by 12.5%) and Kashkadarya (by 4.8%) regions;
• the fare in the fixed-route taxi went up in Syrdarya region (by 25.0%) and Tashkent (by 4.6%).
• the cost of travel on long-distance trains by Uzbekistan Railways has increased by an average of 3.1%, which is associated with an increase in the Swiss franc rate and an increase in local fees.
• passenger air services of Uzbekistan Airways became more expensive by 1.3%, which was caused by the strengthening of the euro against the national currency.

Tariffs for utilities in January of this year increased only in Navoi region.