Muscat, November 04 (QNA) - Inflation across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries stood at 2.2% in July 2026, up from 2.1% in June, remaining moderate and below the averages recorded by several major global economic groupings.

Data released by the GCC Statistical Center (GCC-Stat) showed that housing, water, electricity and gas were the largest contributors to annual inflation, adding 0.82 percentage points to the overall rate. Food and non-alcoholic beverages ranked second, contributing 0.51 percentage points, followed by transport at 0.31 percentage points. Miscellaneous goods and services, and restaurants and hotels each added 0.16 percentage points.

Culture and recreation contributed 0.09 percentage points, while education added 0.05 percentage points. Insurance and financial services, and communications each contributed 0.03 percentage points, while health, and furniture and household equipment each added 0.01 percentage points. Tobacco and alcoholic beverages made no contribution to inflation, while clothing and footwear lowered the overall rate by 0.03 percentage points.

In terms of annual price movements across the main expenditure groups, housing, water, electricity and gas recorded the steepest increase, with prices rising 3.3% in July compared with the same month in 2025. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, and miscellaneous goods and services followed, with prices in both categories climbing 2.8%.

Prices also rose by 2.7% in culture and recreation, 2.4% in transport and 2.3% in restaurants and hotels. Education, and insurance and financial services each recorded a 1.4% increase, while communications prices rose by 0.6%. Tobacco and alcoholic beverages, and health each increased by 0.3%, while furniture and household equipment edged up 0.1%.

Clothing and footwear was the only major expenditure group to record an annual price decline, falling 0.7%.

On a monthly basis, the GCC consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.3% in July compared with June.

Culture and recreation recorded the largest monthly increase, with prices rising 2%, followed by housing, water, electricity and gas at 0.6%, restaurants and hotels at 0.5%, transport at 0.3% and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 0.2%. Insurance and financial services, and health each registered a 0.1% increase, while prices remained unchanged in tobacco and alcoholic beverages, communications and education.

By contrast, prices fell by 0.9% in miscellaneous goods and services, and by 0.1% each in clothing and footwear, and furniture and household equipment.

The GCC's annual inflation rate remained below those recorded by major global economic groupings. Inflation stood at 4.1% across OECD countries and 3.9% in the Group of Twenty (G20), while the Group of Seven (G7), the European Union and the eurozone each recorded an annual rate of 3%. (QNA)