Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2% in 2014. This is the sixth year in a row that the CPI has risen by less than 2%.
According to figures released by the government statistics office on Tuesday, core inflation was up 1.26% for the year. But that did not include the prices of fruit, vegetables, and energy.
The price of a basket of 17 household necessities, including rice, pork, eggs, sugar, cooking oil, and toilet paper, rose 5.35% in 2014. That’s the highest rise since 2008.
That increase and a 3.74% rice in food prices year-on-year explained why many consumers still felt the pinch of higher prices in 2014, especially as wages were stagnant.
An official with the government statistics office, Tsai Yu-tai, said CPI growth in 2015 is likely to be below 1%, despite a depreciation in the New Taiwan Dollar. He said this is because commodity prices have continued to fall and electricity prices are expected to drop.