January 18, 2019ANALYSIS OF NOVA SCOTIA'S CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ANNUAL 2018 CPI inflation in Nova Scotia was 2.2 per cent for the year 2018, below the national increase of 2.3 per cent. For both Canada and Nova Scotia, the CPI increase was the largest since 2011. For 2018, the largest increase in the CPI occurred in British Columbia at 2.7 per cent and the lowest was in Newfoundland and Labrador at 1.6 per cent. The increase of the CPI was larger in 2018 than 2017 for eight provinces, but smaller in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick.
The CPI excluding food and energy increased 1.8 per cent in Nova Scotia in 2018 and rose 1.9 per cent in Canada. The largest increase for the CPI excluding food and energy was in British Columbia at 2.6 per cent while the smallest increase was in Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.2%).
Major Components for 2018
For Nova Scotia, all the major components of the consumer price index increased except household operations, furnishings and equipment(-0.1%) in 2018. After a decline in 2017, food price in Nova Scotia rose 0.3 per cent with an increase in food purchased from restaurants offsetting a further decline in food prices at stores. Shelter prices increased 3.1 per cent in Nova Scotia in 2018 in part due to an increase in fuel oil and other fuels (+15.7%). Clothing and footwear prices were up 3.0 per cent in Nova Scotia in 2018, but the clothing and footwear index (99.6) remains similar to the base year of 2002. Transportation costs rose in both Nova Scotia and Canada with higher energy prices. Inflation decelerated for both the health and personal care and recreation, education, and reading components in both Canada and Nova Scotia in 2018. Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose 2.4 per cent in Nova Scotia in 2018.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 18-10-0005-01 Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted