Inflation to February moderates at 1.9%
Year-over-year inflation rose just under 2 per cent in February, the Government reported.
Consumers paid 1.9 per cent more than they did a year earlier for the basket of goods and services included in the consumer price index. This was a 0.1 percentage point increase from the January 2025 annual inflation rate of 1.8 per cent.
The period used as a reference point for measuring the price change of goods and services, the base period for the Bermuda CPI, is April 2015.
Housing carries the most weight, 26.71 per cent, in terms of impact of the nine sectors on the index calculation, followed by Education, Recreation, Entertainment and Reading at 14.68 per cent. Transport and Foreign Travel is 13.01 per cent, Health and Personal Care 12.97 per cent, Household Goods, Services and Supplies 11.59 per cent, Food 11.53 per cent, Fuel and Power 3.91 per cent, Tobacco and Liquor 3.11 per cent and Clothing and Footwear 2.50 per cent.
Government figures show that in the twelve months to February 2025 the following divisions had significant impacts on the annual percentage change: rent up 2.3 per cent; Education, Recreation, Entertainment and Reading was up 1.6 per cent; Transport and Foreign Travel was 1.5 per cent higher, Health and Personal Care was up 3.1 per cent and Food was up 1.9 per cent.
Over the past decade, the annual rate of inflation exhibited significant variability, reaching a ten-year low of -1.4 per cent in July 2020 and peaking at 5.1 per cent in September 2022.
The annual average percentage change for the period 2015 to 2024 shows an overall upward trend in average price levels, with the highest annual average increase recorded in 2022 at 4 per cent.
Since then, the annual average rate of increase has slowed, falling to 3.3 per cent in 2023 and to 1.9 per cent in 2024. This indicates a continued moderation in the average rate of price growth following the post-pandemic peak.
During the last ten years, the year-over-year percentage change in food prices exhibited the most prominent fluctuation between 2022 and 2024, reaching a high of 10.6 per cent in September 2022.
The annual average percentage change for the period 2015 to 2024 shows a positive growth trend in the price change of food, peaking in 2022 at an average 7.9 per cent. Since then, the rate of increase has slowed, with a 6.5 per cent rise in 2023 and a further moderation to 3.6 per cent in 2024.
• For more on the consumer price index, see Related Media
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