Egypt has recorded its highest annual core inflation rate since November 2017, with the Central Bank of Egypt revealing that November 2022’s annual core inflation rate hit 21.5%, compared to 19% in October.

The Consumer Price Index was up by 2.7% on a month-on-month basis in November, compared to 2% in October and 0.5% in November 2021. 

Core inflation discounts or strips out certain categories that are considered more volatile.

On the same day, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that Egypt’s annual urban inflation rate rose to the highest level in five years reaching 18.7% in November, previously the highest was December 2017’s 21.9%.

On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation was at 2.3% in November, slowing down from 2.6% in October.

CAPMAS attributed the jump mainly to rising food and beverage prices. October’s annual urban inflation rate was recorded at 16.2%.

The annual inflation rate rose to 19.2% in November 2022, compared to 6.2% in November 2021.

This data comes as the first since the central bank’s decision to float the Egyptian Pound in late October.