Tunis: The inflation rate stood at 5% in February 2026, reflecting a 0.1% increase from January 2026, as reported by the Consumer Price Index released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). This growth is primarily attributed to the accelerating price increases in the "Food" category, which saw a rise of 6.7% in February compared to 5.9% in the previous month. According to Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, the annual rise in food product prices is largely due to significant increases in the prices of fruit (up 17.7%), lamb (up 16.3%), fresh fish (up 14%), and poultry (up 12.8%). In contrast, cooking oil prices saw a decrease of 10.3%. Manufactured goods also saw a price increase of 4.6%, driven by a rise in clothing and footwear prices by 8.9% and household cleaning products by 4.8%. Additionally, service prices increased by 3.8% over the year, with accommodation services contributing a notable rise of 11.3%. The monthly inflation rate increase of 0.1% is mainly attributed to price rises in t he food products group. Conversely, the "Clothing and footwear" group experienced price declines due to the winter sales. Over the month, food prices increased by 1.3%, influenced by a 3% rise in fresh fish prices, 2.9% in sheep meat, 2.8% in fresh fruit, and 2.1% in poultry. Cooking oil prices, however, fell by 0.3%. Clothing prices saw a substantial drop of 4.6% with the onset of the winter sales season, as clothing articles fell by 4.8%, footwear by 4.7%, clothing accessories by 1.2%, and fabrics by 1%. The "Manufactured products" and "Services" groups made the most significant contributions to overall inflation, at 1.7% and 1.3%, respectively. The "Non-food free" and "Food free" groups contributed by 2.9% and 1.9%, respectively. In February 2026, the core inflation rate, which excludes food products and energy, decreased to 4.6%, down from 4.9% in January 2026. Free (unregulated) product prices rose by 6.1% over the year, while regulated product prices recorded a growth of 0.8%. Free food products incre ased by 7.6%, compared with a 0.2% rise in regulated-price food products.