Айжан Алибекова
According to the results of July, the Dastarkhan Index for a resident of the capital amounted to 196 servings and 141 servings for Almaty city resident. The Index value for the month decreased by 3.0% and 11.3%, and since the beginning of monitoring (compared to May 2022) – by 10.2% and 14.3%, respectively.
Recall that the Index is calculated as the average wage on the cost of a food basket for cooking Dastarkhan dishes ratio at the prices of Jusan big-data in Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities.
Additionally, we have calculated the Index, focusing on the average pension, taking into account the basic pension payment – data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the Dastarkhan Index for pension payees was as follows:
- in Nur-Sultan city – 63 servings (a decrease of 3.0% in a month, an increase of 0.6% since the beginning of the observation window),
- in Almaty – 51 servings (decrease for the month is 11.0%, and since the beginning of the observation window – 3.7%).
The Index calculated for the average pension did not show a significant change in July, compared to May 2022, thanks to an increase in average pension size in Kazakhstan by 11.7% over the month to 117,469 tenge (data as of July 1.) At the same time, in the Index calculations, the average salary for Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities is used as of the 1st quarter of 2022, since new data have not yet been shown on the website of the Bureau of National Statistics (BNS).
In general, the decline in the Index is primarily due to the rise in the grocery basket cost. By the end of July, the grocery basket cost in Nur-Sultan city amounted to 1,863 tenge (an increase of 3.1% over the month, compared to May 2022 by 11.0%).
The increase in the grocery basket price in July, compared to June, is explained by the increase in prices for oils (39.9%), and vegetables (14.7%), despite the expected seasonal decline in prices. In comparison with May 2022, there is an increase in prices for meat (+12.9%), butter (+44.0%) and flour with cereals (+10.9%). Moreover, vegetable prices in comparison with May showed a significant decrease (-6.3%). According to the data of Jusan big-data, we note the invariance of sugar prices for the entire period of observations, despite the excessive demand and shortage of sugar on grocery shelves throughout the country against the background of restrictions imposed on the export of sugar from Russia.
The grocery basket cost amounted to 2,308 tenge in Almaty city, which is 23.9% higher than its cost in the capital. In July, the grocery basket cost in Almaty increased by 12.3%, from the beginning of the observation window by 16.0%.
The increase in the price of the grocery basket for the month is associated with an increase in prices for all food groups, except prices for eggs and vegetables. The highest growth was shown by the prices of meat (+16.3%), butter (+15.6%) and flour with cereals (+2.9%). Vegetable prices decreased during this period (-7.1%). The cost of eggs due to government measures to regulate prices for them has not changed (subsidizing prices to egg farms). In comparison with May 2022, meat (+20.7%), butter (+14.6%), flour with cereals (+11.7%) and sugar (+4.7%) have become significantly more expensive. At the same time, vegetables show a seasonal decline in prices (-3.6%).
Comparing prices according to Jusan big-data and official statistics of the BNS, the former in July 2022 increased significantly more than the latter. Thus, the monthly level of personal inflation in Nur-Sultan city was 4.3% (according to the BNS – 0.9%), in Almaty city – 5.7% (0.7%).
Interactive charts with detailed dynamics of the Dastarhan Index and the cost of the food basket at: jusananalytics.kz/en/dastarhan/
