32 of 53 survey prices in Qatar rose from 2020 to 2023; the median was +5.9%

The official price survey stops at 2023. This article covers 2020 to 2023 only and says nothing about 2024 or 2025 prices.

The National Planning Council publishes annual average consumer prices for selected commodities. In both 2020 and 2023, 53 items were priced with the same category, description and unit. Of those 53 items:

• 32 rose by more than 0.5%.
• 13 fell by more than 0.5%.
• 8 stayed within 0.5% either way, which counts as flat.

The median price change across all 53 items was +5.9%. These are nominal prices, which means they are not adjusted for inflation.

Another 29 items were listed in only one of the two years. They are left out because there is no 2020-to-2023 comparison for them.

The list of 53 is not only groceries. It covers every survey category, including cars, rent, education and medical items. A rise in this count therefore does not mean 32 grocery items went up.

Across all 53 items, the three biggest rises from 2020 to 2023 were:

• Australian Mutton (1kg): +105.7%
• Toyota Camry, 2 litre, automatic, 4 doors (1 car): +55.2%
• Taxi fare inside Doha, opening meter, morning: +33.9%

The three biggest falls were:

• Coffee beans in plastic bags, locally packed No. 1 (1kg): -28.1%
• Cigarettes: -21.4%
• Tomato (1kg): -18.9%

Most of each big rise came between 2020 and 2021. Mutton rose +109.1% in that first year, then moved -1.6% from 2021 to 2023. The Camry rose +49.0%, then +4.2%. The taxi fare rose +35.7%, then moved -1.3%. A jump this large in one year could come from a change in the product priced, but the figures do not say.

The spotlight items below were picked by us as everyday items. They are not a sample, and they are not the biggest movers. Their changes from 2020 to 2023 were:

• Lebanese bread (5 pieces): QR 1.00 to QR 1.00, +0.0%
• Sugar (2 kg): QR 8.00 to QR 8.70, +8.8%
• Gold, 22 karat (1 g): QR 189.40 to QR 209.00, +10.3%
• Fried-chicken meal for one: QR 22.30 to QR 27.50, +23.3%
• Nido milk powder (2.5 kg): QR 71.20 to QR 89.00, +25.0%
• Taxi, opening fare in Doha: QR 11.20 to QR 15.00, +33.9%
• Tomatoes (1 kg): QR 3.70 to QR 3.00, -18.9%

The official food and beverages index is the comparison here. Its 2023 average was +8.3% above its 2020 average. The median across the 53 survey items was +5.9% over the same years. Both figures are nominal.

The two measures are built differently. The index covers a wider basket than the survey items. The median covers all 53 items priced in both years, including cars, rent, education and medical items. Neither figure is a measure of any one household's costs.

The table lists the spotlight items with their survey prices in each year. Each price is an annual average for one item in one unit, as surveyed.

Among the spotlight items, Nido milk powder (+25.0%), the fried-chicken meal (+23.3%) and the taxi opening fare (+33.9%) sit above the index figure of +8.3%. Sugar (+8.8%) and gold (+10.3%) are close to it. Lebanese bread stayed at QR 1.00 and tomatoes fell to QR 3.00 per kg.

A single survey price is noisy. Each is one annual average for one item, with the brand and package size as surveyed. If the product priced changes, or one year's survey catches a low or high price, the change from 2020 to 2023 moves with it. A price that doubled or fell by a fifth should be read with that in mind.

The pattern across many items is firmer than any one price. Of 53 items priced in both years, 32 rose, 13 fell and 8 were flat. The median was +5.9%. That spread is a better summary of the survey than mutton at +105.7% or coffee beans at -28.1%.

The survey itself is a set of selected commodities, not a full record of what households buy. The 53 items cover all survey categories, so cars, rent, education and medical items sit beside bread and sugar. Gold and taxi fares are also in the survey. The spotlight items are our own picks of everyday items and are not a statistical sample.

The survey years run from 2017 to 2023, and this article uses 2020 and 2023 only. Prices after 2023 are not covered.