TEHRAN, December 23 (MNA) – Iran’s annual inflation rate has decreased further in the calendar month to late December, according to the figures of the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI).The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) said on Sunday that inflation in the country had reached 32.5% in the 12 months to late December compared to the previous 12-month period.

It said the figure was a decline of 0.6% from the same rate reported in late November, according to Press TV The SCI figures showed that Iran’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached 285.1 in the calendar month ending late December, and monthly inflation had also increased by 2%.

The data showed that prices of food, beverages, and smoking products increased by 1.8% in December compared to November, while inflation of non-food products and services rose by 2.1% over the same period.

The SCI said inflation measured on a point-to-point scale, which compares the rate in two same months in back-to-back years, was 31.4% in December.

The figures come days after the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said that inflation in the country was at its lowest in four years.

CBI figures showed that Iran’s annual inflation rate had dropped to 37.3% in the calendar month to November 20.

The lender said that Iran’s Producer Price Index (PPI) had also dropped by 27.6 % in November, the lowest reported since February 2019, adding that the monthly PPI, which is a gauge of the general inflationary trend in a country, had fallen to 2.4% in the same month.

Iran’s annual inflation rose to nearly 49.1% in May 2023, just shy of an all-time record reported some three decades ago.

MNA