The Tribune

Bahamian families are facing renewed price and cost of living pressures after April 2006 saw the greatest year-over-year increase in inflation for three years.

Data released yesterday by the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) revealed that the annual inflation rate, which measures the average price increase across a basket of goods and services, had risen by 3.8 percent for April 2026 when compared to the same month in the prior year.

Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), has been steadily rising since September 2025. Over the eight months to April, the annual or year-over-year increase has never dipped below 2 percent, peaking at that month’s 3.8 percent following a 3.1 percent jump in March.

The BNSI report did not identify the key factors driving the inflation surge, only the categories of goods and services chiefly responsible, but the inflation spikes in March and April coincide with when the full impact of global oil spikes sparked by the Middle East conflict between the US/Israel and Iran began to be felt.

However, it noted that petroleum or gasoline prices at the pump soared by 41.4 percent in April 2026 compared to one year earlier, while those for diesel jumped by 21.2 percent as rising crude oil prices started to feed into the Bahamian economy.

“On a year-over-year basis, April 2026 compared with April 2025, the consumer price index (CPI) for April 2026 increased by 3.8 percent compared to the same period in 2025,” the BNSI report said.

“The largest contributors to the year-over-year increase were restaurants and hotels, 17.4 percent; transport, 10.9 percent; and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, 4.1 percent. In contrast, the category of alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics decreased 4.6 percent over the same period.

“The petroleum and diesel index recorded a month–over–month increase in April 2026. Compared with March 2026, diesel prices rose by 36.5 percent, while petroleum prices increased by 20.4 percent,” the report said.

“On an annual basis, both petroleum and diesel prices increased compared with April 2025. Petroleum prices rose by 41.4 percent, while diesel prices increased by 21.2 percent compared with the same period of the previous year.”

With the inflation rate representing “the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by households over time”, the BNSI said of the monthly impact: “The CPI increased by 0.6 percent in April 2026 compared with March 2026. This followed an increase of 0.35 percent between February and March 2026.

“On a month-to-month basis, April 2026 compared with March 2026, the largest increases were recorded in the transport category (7.5 percent), clothing and footwear (2.7 percent), and alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics (2.3 percent). In contrast, the largest decreases were observed in food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.5 percent) and recreation (0.5 percent).”