Canada’s annual inflation rate rises 4.8%, highest since 1991
Posted January 19, 2022 5:40 am.
Last Updated January 19, 2022 5:53 am.
The cost of living continued to rise in the last month of 2021, as unfavourable weather and supply chain issues added to pressure on prices across Canada.
Statistics Canada says the annual pace of inflation climbed in December to its highest rate since 1991, up 4.8 per cent compared with a year earlier.
#Breaking Canada December inflation rate hits highest level since 1991.
– CPI up 4.8% y/y (est. up 4.8%)
– up 4% excluding gas prices
– Gas up 33% y/y
– Food up 5.2% y/y
– New cars/trucks up 7.2%
– home ownership costs up 9%— Mike Eppel (@eppman) January 19, 2022
The consumer price index reading compared with a year-over-year increase of 4.7 per cent in November. Excluding gasoline, the inflation rate was up 4.0 per cent year-over-year.
On a monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.1 per cent in December 2021, after a 0.2 per cent gain the month before.
“This was the first monthly decline since December 2020, as gasoline prices fell in response to lower demand amid the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant,” the agency says.
Statistics Canada says the growth in December was in part due to higher prices for food, passenger vehicles, and housing.
Prices at the gas pumps were up 33.3 per cent year-over-year in December compared with a 43.6 per cent annual increase in November as tightening of public health restrictions related to the Omicron variant weighed on demand.
