The Central Administration of Statistics has released new data about the inflation rates recorded in Lebanon in the first quarter of 2021.
The Administration revealed in a statement on Wednesday that the consumer price index in Lebanon for the month of March 2021 recorded an increase of 8.33% compared to February.
Here is how this index has shifted across the country’s governorates:
- Beirut Governorate: Increased by 7.21%
- Mount Lebanon Governorate: Increased by 8.70%
- North Governorate: Increased by 7.75%
- Beqaa Governorate: Increased by 7.92%
- South Governorate: Increased by 9.02%
- Nabatieh Governorate: Increased by 8.81%
According to the Administration, Lebanon’s consumer price index for March 2021 is 157.86% higher than what it was in March 2020.
Additionally, during the first quarter of the current year, price inflation hit 16.5%. Notably, recent statistics indicated that Lebanon also recorded an overall increase in crime during the first quarter of 2021.
The economic meltdown that has engulfed Lebanon is unprecedented in the country’s recent history.
Though the crisis is often compared to the conditions endured during the Lebanese Civil War that lasted 15 years, survivors of the war have opened up about how the economic situation was not as bad then as it is now.
As more than half of the Lebanese population struggles with poverty, the smuggling of subsidized food, medicine, and fuel out of the country continues to undermine the readily unbearable living conditions.
