The National Institute of Statistics (INS) reported a decrease in the inflation rate to 8.6% in October from 9% in September 2023. This decline in inflation is attributed to a slowdown in the rate of price increases between October and September 2023, compared with the same period in the previous year.

According to Agence Tunis Afrique Presse, the decrease was driven by a reduced annual rate of increase in specific groups. The 'Food' group's annual increase rate slowed from 13.9% to 13.1%, and the 'Furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance' group decreased from 9.1% to 8.8%. In October 2023, food prices saw a 13.1% increase compared to the previous year, mainly due to significant rises in the prices of coffee, sheepmeat, edible oils, eggs, and fresh fruit.

The report also noted a 7.7% year-on-year increase in prices for industrial goods, influenced by rises in construction materials, clothing, and household goods. Service prices went up by 6.2% year on year, led by hikes in the costs of restaurants, transport, financial services, and insurance.

Core inflation, excluding food and energy, remained unchanged at 7.4% in October. Prices of non-regulated products rose by 9.7% year-on-year, while prices of regulated products increased by 5.2%. The non-regulated food sector saw a 14.8% price rise, in contrast to a 2.2% increase for regulated food.

The report also detailed the sectoral contributions to inflation, with 'Industry' and 'Services' making the largest impacts at 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively. 'Energy' had the smallest contribution at 0.2%. Regarding pricing schemes, "Free non-food" and "free food" groups contributed the most to inflation at 4% and 3.4%, respectively. In contrast, "regulated food products" had the smallest impact at 0.1%.

Consumer prices rose by 0.7% in October 2023 compared with the previous month, a slight decrease from the 0.8% rise in September 2023. This increase was primarily due to higher prices in clothing and footwear, food, and educational services and materials. Food prices increased slightly by 0.1% over the month, with notable rises in edible oil, condiments, beef, and sheepmeat prices. In contrast, vegetable and fruit prices saw a decline.