Inflation across GCC holds at moderate 2.2% in July 2026

In July 2026, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) saw its inflation rate settle at a moderate 2.2%, a slight increase from the 2.1% recorded in June. This figure, released by the GCC Statistical Center (GCC-Stat), remained below the averages set by several prominent global economic groupings. Housing, water, electricity and gas emerged as the primary drivers of inflation, contributing 0.82 percentage points to the overall rate.

Food and beverages followed closely, adding 0.51 percentage points, while transport accounted for 0.31 percentage points.

Food prices, including beverages, surged by 2.8% on an annual basis, while housing and related costs climbed by 3.3%. Culture and recreation, transport, and restaurants and hotels also experienced increases, each at around 2.3% to 2.8%. In contrast, clothing and footwear saw a price drop of 0.7%, making it the sole category to register a decline. Education and insurance and financial services both rose by 1.4%, while communication costs increased by 0.6%.

On a monthly basis, the GCC consumer price index (CPI) climbed 0.3% in July compared to June. Culture and recreation saw the largest monthly rise at 2%, followed by housing, water, electricity and gas at 0.6%, and restaurants and hotels at 0.5%. Transport and food also recorded increases of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. However, prices fell in miscellaneous goods and services by 0.9% and modestly in clothing and footwear and furniture and household equipment by 0.1%.