December 16,2022
INFLATION GOES BOTH WAYS — Okay, get this. For the fourth month in a row, the inflation rate by one measure has just fallen again, but, by the other measure, it has just risen for the sixth month in a row. Still, by both measures, inflation remains well above 40 percent annually, which doesn’t give bragging rights to the Raisi Administration.
The annual inflation rate compared to the same month last year (the red lines above) stood at 48.1 percent at the end of the Persian month of Aban (November 21) versus 48.6 percent at the end of Mehr (October 22). That was down from 49.7 percent at the end of the previous month and down from the high of 54.0 percent four months ago.
The Statistical Center of Iran also uses a second measure the average rate over the preceding 12 months shown in the black lines above. By that measure, which is less often focused on, the inflation rate rose for the sixth month in a row from 38.7 percent six months ago, to 42.9 percent as of October 22 and 44.0 percent as of November 21. The food category, which accounts for more than onequarter of the average family’s spending, was up 68.4 percent compared to same month last year.
