Inflation in Mongolia stood at 2.6 percent as of February 2021, decreasing by 3.8 percentage points compared to the same period of last year, reported the National Statistics Office on Monday.

By contribution of price changes of goods and services groups to the 2.6 percent inflation rate, 2.4 percentage points (92.3 percent) was attributed to changes in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group alone.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.4 percent from the previous month, 2.4 percent this year, and 2.6 percent from February 2020. This increase was driven by a 9 percent surge in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, followed by 4.5 percent increase in prices of medicine and medical service group, as well as 3.6 percent surge in prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

The rise in CPI for food items moderated from 9.4 percent in February 2020 to 8.1 percent in February 2021. CPI for non-food items increased by 5.1 percent in February 2020, while it rose by 0.1 percent in February 2021. In Ulaanbaatar, inflation reached 2 percent.

The 2 percent inflation in Ulaanbaatar was mainly due to 9.2 percent increase in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages group, 4.1 percent increase of alcoholic beverages and tobacco group, 1.2 percent increase of cloth and footwear group, 5 percent increase of food and accommodation service group, and 4.8 percent increase of medicines and medical service group. However, it was offset by a decline of 9.7 percent in the prices of housing, water, electricity and fuels group and 4.7 percent drop in transport group.

In the reference period, the prices of 96 items (27.9 percent) of consumer basket of Ulaanbaatar (344 consumer goods and services) had increased. Meanwhile, the prices of nine items (2.6 percent) decreased, and the prices of the remaining 239 items (69.5 percent) remained stable. From the 100 food items selected for the consumer price survey, the prices of 59 food items had increased.