Inflation weakened further in Canada in February and the consumer price index (CPI), which fell to 5.2% from 5.9% in January, recorded its sharpest decline since April 2020.
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That’s according to the latest data from Statistics Canada released on Tuesday. But even though inflation has slowed in recent months, food prices still remain high.
In fact, the price of groceries purchased in stores rose 10.6% year over year in February, marking a seventh consecutive monthly increase of double digits or more.
Year-on-year price increases for certain food items, such as cereals (+14.8%), sugar and confectionery (+6%), and fish, seafood and other seafood (+7.4%), also accelerated. year in February.
Fruit juice prices rose by 15.7% over the same period. “Rising orange juice prices were the main contributors to growth as orange supply was impacted by yellow kite disease and weather events such as Hurricane Ian,” Statistics Canada said.
On the other hand, the prices of other foods are increasing, in particular soft drinks (+11.1%), meat (+6.2%), vegetables and vegetable preparations (+13.9%) and bakery products (+13.9%). . slowed year on year in February compared to January.
Dairy product prices also increased at a slower rate year-on-year in February (+9.1%) compared to January (+12.4%).
Gasoline prices fall
Gasoline prices (-4.7%) posted their first annual decline since January 2021. On a monthly basis, Canadian drivers paid 1% less for gasoline in February as crude oil stocks in the United States increased.
In Quebec, the annual inflation rate reached 5.6% yoy in February and increased by 0.5% between January and February.
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