Oil price hike "hits" transportation/ But fuel price hike does not translate into inflation "explosion" in March
The increase in fuel prices following the crisis in the Middle East, with the price of oil reaching 224 lek per liter, did not deliver a strong blow to total inflation in March, although it was clearly reflected in transportation costs.
INSTAT announced that annual inflation in March reached 2.6%, while compared to February, consumer prices increased by 0.7%.
The published data shows that the strongest movement in March came precisely from the “Transport” group, whose prices increased by 7.1% compared to February and 7.5% compared to the same month a year ago. This makes transport the item most exposed to fuel price increases, at a time when new tensions in the Middle East have increased uncertainty in international energy markets.
Historical data shows that transport has traditionally been one of the most sensitive sectors to external shocks. After a long period of decline and stabilization during 2023-2025, in March 2026 this group recorded an annual growth of 7.5%, becoming one of the main contributors to price increases.
Compared to February of the same year, the largest price increase, apart from transportation, was also recorded by "Food and non-alcoholic beverages" with 0.7%, "Furniture, household equipment and home maintenance" with 0.4%, "Entertainment, sports and culture" with 0.3%, "Health" and "Restaurants and accommodation services" with 0.1% each.
On the other hand, prices in the "Clothing and footwear" group decreased by 0.3%, followed by the "Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services" groups by 0.2% and "Rent, water, electricity, gas and other fuels" by 0.1%.
In terms of annual changes, transport was followed by groups such as “Rent, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” with an increase of 4.8%, “Insurance and financial services” with 4.5%, “Entertainment, sports and culture” with 2.9%, “Furniture, household equipment and home maintenance” with 2.6%, “Restaurants and accommodation services” with 2.4%, “Alcoholic beverages and tobacco” and “Personal care and miscellaneous goods and services” with 2.0% each, “Educational services” with 1.9%, “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” with 1.3%, etc.
However, the weight of transport in total inflation remained more limited than might have been expected from the strong monthly growth rate. According to INSTAT, the largest impact on the annual inflation in March was provided by the group “Rent, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”, with +0.95 percentage points, while transport contributed with +0.48 percentage points.
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