Canada's consumer inflation eases to 6.3% in December

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Canada's annual consumer inflation rose 6.3% in December, easing from the annual gain seen in the previous month, the country’s statistical authority revealed on Tuesday.

While the figure came lower than the market expectation of 6.4%, it is a slowdown from the 6.8% year-on-year gain in November.

Annual consumer inflation has also significantly slowed its pace since the 8.1% gain in June, which was the highest in 39 years for the country.

Excluding food and energy, consumer prices rose 5.3% on a yearly basis in December, following a gain of 5.4% in November, Statistics Canada said in a statement.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index fell 0.6% in December, following a 0.1% gain in November, and beat the market expectation of a 0.5% monthly decrease.

"The monthly decline in December is the largest since April 2020, mostly driven by gasoline prices, which also posted their largest monthly decline since April 2020," the statement said.

"Consumers paid 13.1% less at the pump in December compared with November, the largest monthly decline since April 2020. This reflected lower prices for crude oil amid concerns of a slowing global economy, as well as reduced demand following an increase in COVID-19 cases in China," it added.