Palestine Economy Portal 

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in Palestine with its base year (2007=100) reached 123.84 in the first quarter of 2016, which indicates a decrease by 0.91% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2015.

The WPI for Local Products

The WPI for local products (2007=100) reached 124.97 in the first quarter of 2016, which indicates a sharp decrease by 1.44% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2015.

The WPI for Imported Products

The WPI for imported products (2007=100) reached 120.47 in the first quarter of 2016, which indicates a decrease by 0.52% in comparison with the fourth quarter of 2015.

The WPI within Major Activities

The WPI decreased in the first quarter of 2016 due to:

- the decrease in prices of agriculture goods by 3.66%, which formed 29.00% of the goods basket; and

- the decrease in the prices of goods within the cropping activity by 6.28%; the prices of dried and fresh vegetables decreased by 10.29%, the prices of grains and legumes decreased by 4.82%, while the prices of fresh fruit increased by 3.41%.

However, the prices of goods within the animal husbandry activity increased by 1.49%. The prices of live animals increased by 4.54%, while the prices of animal products deceased by 5.06%.

The prices of goods within the fishing activity increased by 14.54%, and formed 0.10% of the goods basket. Moreover, the prices of goods within the mining and quarrying activity increased by 1.32%, and formed 0.90% of the goods basket.

The prices of goods within the manufacturing activity increased by 0.33%, and formed 70.00% of the goods basket. There was an increase in the prices of textile products by 9.20%, the prices of ready-made garments by 7.69%, the prices of drinks by 7.60%, the prices of cement and gypsum products by 4.63%, the prices of leather products by 4.46%, the prices of tobacco and cigarettes by 4.12%, the prices of plastic and rubber products by 3.34%, the prices of furniture by 2.26%, the prices of nonmetal products by 1.75%, and the prices of textiles by 1.41%.

On the other hand, there was a decrease in the prices of glass and its products by 11.86%, the prices of bakery products by 6.74%, the prices of paper and its products by 5.76%, the prices of grained wheat products by 2.99%, the prices of dairy products by 1.55%, the prices of metals products (excluding machines) by 1.39%, and the prices of wood and its products by 0.95%.