Health sector inflation jumps in Dec after months in negative territory
Rural health inflation rose to 0.02% last month
After a surprising few months of negative trends, national and rural level inflation in the health sector experienced a notable upswing in December and returned to positive territory.
National health sector inflation in the final month of last year was 1.16%, according to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The numbers were -3.83% in November. In October and September, health inflation was -1.73% and -3.92%, respectively.
In rural areas, inflation in the healthcare sector took a huge leap to 0.02% in December from the previous month's -7.01%, as per BBS data. In October and September, rural health inflation was -4.16% and -6.70%, respectively.
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Meanwhile, medical inflation in urban areas remained almost flat in the last three months, as the December figure increased slightly to 4.06% from November's 3.63%.
Following the release of inflation data for November 2023, The Business Standard on 19 December published an article, titled "BBS healthcare cost data raises more questions than answers", regarding health inflation being consistently negative. It highlighted that explanation was sought from the BBS concerning the issue but received no concrete answers.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, director general of BBS, was asked about the matter. He said changes in the inflation calculation, including the addition of some medical items to the health basket, made the rate lower.
However, he could not tell which items were added to the basket. Besides, he asked the Price and Wages Wing of the BBS to provide a written explanation in this regard, which also was never produced.
Now, regarding the jump in December data, Mizanur Rahman said he was unaware of why the figure had jumped. He also said he would inform TBS after talking to concerned officials.
Meanwhile, Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, a health economist and professor at Dhaka University, told TBS that the inflation figures in the previous months were wrong.
"Because of such mistakes, there is no trust in the BBS. The bureau should give an explanation for the huge jump in health inflation now," he added.
