TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As countries around the world experience a surge in consumer inflation, Taiwan's government statistics department has reported a drop in the annual core consumer price index (CPI) figure for July.

Fruits and eggs, however, continued to rise in price.

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DBGAS) announced Friday (Aug. 5) the CPI rose 3.36% annually in July, the smallest rise in four months. Meanwhile, restaurant bills were 6.76% higher compared to the same period last year — the highest rise in nearly 14 years.  

Food operators and households in particular felt the pinch of expensive egg prices, which skyrocketed 31.92% year-on-year for July, the highest rise in three years. The agency attributed the inflated egg and meat prices to more expensive feed costs.

The good news is that the CPI for July decreased 0.03% from the preceding month and the core CPI, which excludes vegetables, fruits and energy, increased 2.73% annually in July and fell by 0.04 percentage points from the previous month. This was viewed as a good sign that consumer inflation has reached its ceiling.

In addition to food and energy bills, residential rents increased 0.21% in July from last month and 2.06% from last year.

The PPI, the price index for products domestically produced, dropped 0.96% in July from the previous month thanks to the falling costs of petroleum, coal and metal products. This also explains the drop in the country's wholesale price index (WPI) figure, which decreased 1.17% from the previous month.

(DBGAS chart)