August Consumer Price Index: Inflation 1.9%
Consumers paid 1.9% more in August than they did a year ago for the basket of goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index [CPI].
A Government spokesperson said, “Today, the Ministry of Economy and Labour released the Department of Statistics’ August 2025 Consumer Price Index.
“In summary, consumers paid 1.9 per cent more in August 2025 than they did a year ago for the basket of goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index [CPI]. This level of inflation decreased 0.1 percentage points from the July 2025 annual inflation rate. Some highlights for August 2024 to August 2025 include:
- The Rent division increased 2.4 per cent.
- The Health & Personal Care division rose 3.9 per cent.
- The Food division increased 2.3 per cent.
- The Transport & Foreign Travel division increased 1.3 per cent.
- The Education, Recreation, Entertainment & Reading division advanced 0.8 per cent.
“Between July 2025 and August 2025, the average cost of goods and services increased 0.1 per cent. Additional areas of note between July 2025 and August 2025 were as follows:
- The Food division increased 0.5 per cent.
- The Rent division increased 0.1 per cent.
- The Transport & Foreign Travel division rose 0.1 per cent.
- The Health & Personal Care division rose 0.1 per cent.”
The full August 2025 Consumer Price Index follows below [PDF here]:
What is the point of this? Take a simple example, carrots. A bag of carrots is now just under $10, or $2 each carrot. Last year they were around $8, so a 12% increase. Why does a reduction in the price of a hotel in the USA reduce this increase to 1.9%?
This is a classic case of Government waste. Close down the Department, plus others like Gaming and the GPO and use the $20 million to replace the bridges in the East End as starters.
Wish there was an “edit” feature, as clearly 12% should be 25%.
Measured on a monthly basis, retail price inflation in the U.K. was 0.3% in August 2025 according to the Office for National Statistics. In the U.S., the (Trump approved) inflation rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was 0.2%. In Canada the rate of retail price inflation was -0.1% according to Statistics Canada. That 1.9% reported by the Government of Bermuda might be real.
On the other hand, if we are considering retail price inflation for the 12 month period ending August 2025, the U.K. reported inflation at 3.8%, the U.S. reported inflation at 2.9%, and Canada reported inflation at 1.9%.
Bermuda’s reported retail price inflation is 1% lower than that of our greatest trading partner. The economic miracle that is Bermuda continues!