RIYADH – Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate recorded a decline of 0.3% on a monthly basis, falling from 2.1% in December 2025 to 1.8% in January 2026.
The annual inflation rate also fell from 2% to 1.8% in January 2025, recording a decline of 0.2%, according to a statistical report released by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) on Sunday.
The annual inflation rate is driven by a 4.2 percent increase in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuel prices, as well as a 1.5 percent increase in transportation costs and a 1 percent increase in restaurant and accommodation services.
Officials explained that housing rents were the most important driver of inflation, with actual rents increasing by 5.2% year-on-year. Prices for passenger transport services also rose by 6%, while food and beverage prices rose by 1%.
Personal care and other goods and services increased by 7.9%, with prices for jewelry and watches increasing by more than 28%. Insurance and financial services rose 3.3%, while recreation, sport and culture rose 2.3%, driven by a 3.7% rise in holiday prices. Education prices rose by 1.6%, and food and drink prices rose by 0.2%. Conversely, prices for furniture and home appliances fell by 0.3%, and healthcare by 0.1%.
On a monthly basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.2% in January 2026 compared to December 2025, supported by a 0.5% increase in housing, water, electricity and fuel prices due to a 0.5% increase in actual house rents. The transportation sector also rose 0.2% from the previous month, and the restaurant sector also rose 1%.
Conversely, food and beverage prices fell by 0.6%, and the communications and information sector fell by 0.1%. Prices for educational services, healthcare, furniture, home appliances, routine home maintenance, and tobacco remained relatively unchanged in January 2026.
According to the GASTAT report, the Kingdom’s wholesale price index in January 2026 reached 2.9% on an annual basis compared to the same month in 2025. This increase is primarily due to higher prices for other transportation products. Prices of other transported goods, excluding metal products, machinery and equipment, increased by 4.9% in January 2026 compared to January 2025.
This increase was driven by a 3.9% increase in refined petroleum product prices and an 18.4% increase in basic chemicals prices. Agricultural and fishery product prices also increased by 4.2%, as agricultural prices increased by 5.8% and prices of live and livestock products increased by 1.1%.
The report noted that prices of metal products, machinery and equipment increased by 1.2%, due to a 5.6% increase in basic metal prices and a 3.3% increase in metal product prices. Prices of food, beverages, tobacco and textile products also increased by 0.3%, driven by a 0.7% increase in the price of grain milling products, starch and other food products, and a 1.7% increase in the price of leather, leather goods and footwear. Conversely, raw material and mineral prices fell by 0.1% as stone and sand prices fell by 0.1%.
On a monthly basis, the wholesale price index recorded an increase of 1.5% in January compared to December 2025, affected by increases in the prices of refined petroleum products, basic chemicals, agricultural and marine products, food, beverages, tobacco and textile products, while prices of raw materials and metals recorded a slight decline of 0.1%.
This is due to the fact that the prices of raw materials and metals remained stable and did not show relatively large fluctuations during January 2026, while the prices of transportation equipment decreased by 0.2% and the prices of general used machinery decreased by 0.3%.
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