Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

The Office of SBOC Releases More Statistical Publications on FSM

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): August 3, 2009 - The Office of Statistics, Budget and Economic Management, Overseas Development Assistance and Compact Management (SBOC) has recently announced the release of two new statistical publications available to the public. These publications are the FSM Consumer Price Index, containing information for 2nd Quarter 2006 to 2nd Quarter 2009, and the Analysis of the 2005 Household Income and Expenditure Survey: A report on the estimation of basic needs poverty lines, and the incidence and characteristics of poverty in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The FSM Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures quarterly changes in prices of a 'basket' of goods and services, which are representative of purchases by private households in the FSM. Therefore, this publication presents a vital indicator on the quarterly performance of FSM's economy, especially the inflation rate on selected goods and services.

Some of the highlights of the current CPI are as follows:

  • Nationally, the inflation rate for the current quarter was 9.6%, an increase of 4.3 percentage points compared to the same quarter in the previous year. The increase in the inflation rate is largely due to increases in the cost of Food (21.1%), Alcohol, Tobacco, Sakau, and Betelnut (9.0%), Clothing & Footwear (3.3%), Housing (4.8%), Fuel, Light and Water (5.1%), and Miscellaneous items (5.5%). These increases were offset by a decrease in Services (-7.0%).

  • By state, the annual inflation rate for the 2nd quarter of 2009 was 5.8% in Kosrae, 11.2% in Pohnpei, 8.8% in Chuuk, and 8.9% in Yap.

  • The annual inflation rate for domestic items is 9.2% compared to imported products at 9.7%. By state, the annual inflation rate for domestic items was 24.5% in Kosrae, 5.7% in Pohnpei, 2.6% in Chuuk, and 2.3% in Yap. In addition, the annual inflation rate for imported items was 1.3% in Kosrae, 13.8% in Pohnpei, 9.9% in Chuuk, and 4.9% in Yap.

In terms of the Analysis of the 2005 Household Incomes and Expenditure Survey, this report includes discussions on poverty in the FSM within the Pacific context. Its primary focus is to asses and define poverty within the context of the basic costs of a minimum standard of living in the FSM and in particular, within each of the FSM states. The Basic Needs Poverty Line (BNPL) is a relative measure of hardship. The report states that poverty in the FSM does not mean hunger or destitution in the traditional sense, but rather the struggle to meet daily or weekly expenses, especially those requiring cash payments.

The report summarizes that:

  • Households falling below the BNPL had increased between 1998 and 2005.

  • In 2005, about 22.4% of households fell below the BNPL.

  • About 29.9% of the population was below the BNPL.

  • About 4.8% of population was vulnerable to falling below the BNPL.

For more information on these publications please contact the Office of SBOC at (691) 320-2823.