Key Points:
The headline rate of output prices showed positive growth of 3.9% on the year to April 2021, up from positive growth of 2.3% in March 2021.
The headline rate of input prices showed positive growth of 9.9% on the year to April 2021, up from positive growth of 6.4% in March 2021, this is the highest the rate has been since February 2017.
Transport equipment, and metals and non-metallic minerals provided the largest upward contribution to the annual rate of output and input inflation respectively.
On the month, the rate of output inflation slowed to 0.4% in April 2021, down from 0.8% in March 2021.
Transport Equipment provided the largest upward contribution of 1.82 percentage points to the annual rate and had a positive annual price growth of 0.4% in April 2021.
The upward contribution is mainly driven by weight changes in 2021. A 15.6% increase in weight for this category coupled with an increase in the annual growth rate has resulted in a large upward contribution to the headline rate.
The annual rate of output inflation increased by 1.6 percentage points from 2.3% last month to 3.9% this month. Petroleum products had the highest annual growth rate of any component of output prices in April 2021, at 50.3% (Table 2). This was entirely driven by a base effect as there was no price movement on the month. In April 2020, prices for petroleum products fell by 23.5% as there was significant fall in demand in the market. More recently, prices have stabilised, and annual growth rates are higher than in recent months as they are now being compared with the exceptionally low prices at the beginning of the pandemic.
On the month, the rate of input inflation slowed to 1.2% in April 2021, down from 1.9% in March 2021.
The annual rate of imported inputs was 5.6% in April 2021, up from 0.8% in March 2021.
