FX.co ★ Saudi Arabia Inflation Rate Edges Up to 2.3%

Saudi Arabia experienced a slight increase in its annual inflation rate, moving to 2.3% in June 2025 from 2.2% in May. The housing and utilities sector continued to be the main contributor to inflation, even though its annual growth slowed slightly to 6.5% from 6.8%. This category's upward pressure was largely due to a 7.6% rise in rents paid for housing, driven by a 7.1% increase in villa rental prices. The subindex for housing and utilities held a significant 25.5% weight in the consumer price index. Inflation also rose in the tobacco sector, increasing to 0.5% from 0.3% in May, in education, climbing to 1.4% from 1.3%, and in miscellaneous personal goods and services, which edged up to 4.1% from 4.0%. Conversely, a decrease in inflation was observed for food and non-alcoholic beverages, dropping to 1.5% from 1.6%, and in restaurants and hotels, where it fell to 1.6% from 1.8%. Meanwhile, deflation continued in the clothing and footwear sector, moderating to -0.6% from -0.9%, in furnishings and household maintenance, easing to -1.7% from -2.5%, and in transport, improving to -0.7% from -0.8%. On a month-to-month basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.2%, following a 0.1% increase in the previous month.