Oranjestad, St. Eustatius – In Q3 2020, consumer goods and services decreased on St Eustatius by 3.3 percent. On Bonaire prices were 4.8 percent cheaper than one year previously. On Saba prices decreased by 1.6 percent year-on-year . For all three islands, these were the largest price decreases measured since Statistics Netherlands (CBS) introduced these price indices in 2011. This is reported by CBS on the basis of the consumer price index for the Caribbean Netherlands.

The recent price decreases are partly attributable to the allowance for electricity, drinking water and internet, which have been provided by the government as of 1 May 2020. As a result, the fixed usage tariffs for electricity and drinking water amount to 0 US dollars, and fixed internet subscribers receive a monthly discount of 25 US dollars. In Q3, the subsidies had an effect on all three months, while in Q2 this only applied to May and June. The full effect of the subsidies is therefore only visible in the third quarter.

Prices on St Eustatius more than 3 percent lower

In Q3 2020, consumer prices on St Eustatius were 3.3 percent lower year-on-year. The government measures of 1 May caused telecommunications and electricity prices to decline further. Compared to Q3 2019, electricity was 27.9 percent and telecommunications 18.1 percent cheaper. The price of electricity was 21.9 percent down on the second quarter of 2020, due to a reduction in the variable tariff.

Impact of the coronavirus crisis on compiling the consumer price index (CPI)

Bonaire was in a soft lockdown from 21 to 30 September 2020, which impacted in-store price observation on this island: prices for some products could not be observed. This was not the case on St Eustatius and Saba. However, due to the government measures, some products and services on both islands were limited or unavailable in Q3 2020. CBS chose an appropriate estimation method for these products. This memo explains the decisions that were made.

Provisional figures

Figures referring to Q3 2020 are provisional and will become definitive upon publication of the figures over Q4 2020.

Papiamentu

A Papiamentu translation of this news release can be obtained from Statistics Netherlands’ office on Bonaire by sending a request via email to: caribischnederland@cbs.nl

Sources:

StatLine: Caribbean Netherlands; consumer price index

https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/en/dataset/84046ENG/table?ts=1594759225830

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