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FINANCIAL CRISIS

Lebanon sees triple-digit average inflation for second year in a row

Lebanon sees triple-digit average inflation for second year in a row

Inside a mall in Dbayeh, north of Beirut. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/L'Orient-Le Jour)

BEIRUT — For the second year in a row, in 2022, Lebanon saw a triple-digit average inflation rate, at 171.2 percent, according to the latest figures from the Central Administration of Statistics released in January.

This rate is calculated from the average year-on-year inflation for each month.

The new figures mark an increase from 2021, when the inflation rate stood at 154.8 percent.

At the month level, in Dec. 2022 the consumer price index, which is used to calculate inflation, increased by 121.99 percent compared to Dec. 2021.

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Lebanese lira trades above LL54,000 to the dollar

The telecoms sector saw the biggest price increases (311.86 percent), as tariffs that were previously calculated at the former official exchange rate of LL1,507.5 to the dollar are now aligned with the central bank’s Sayrafa platform rate, which is usually a few thousand lira below the market rate.

The prices of miscellaneous goods and services increased by 237.29 percent, education spending by 191.35 percent and healthcare by 167.46 percent.

Over the past three years, Lebanese lira prices used to calculate the inflation rate increased by a staggering 1,670.35 percent at the end of December 2022 — in other words, they were multiplied by almost 18.

Over the same period, the lira-dollar rate multiplied by a factor 19, based on data from lirarate.org, from about LL2,100 to the dollar at the end of Dec. 2019 compared to just over LL42,000 at the end of Jan. 2022.

BEIRUT — For the second year in a row, in 2022, Lebanon saw a triple-digit average inflation rate, at 171.2 percent, according to the latest figures from the Central Administration of Statistics released in January. This rate is calculated from the average year-on-year inflation for each month.The new figures mark an increase from 2021, when the inflation rate stood at 154.8 percent. At the...