Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS), in its consumer-price report published on 21 September, said the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the first eight months of 2026 was 2.20% higher than in the same period of 2025. That is not the year-on-year inflation rate for August itself; it compares the January–August average with the average for the corresponding months a year earlier. For August, DoS reported two separate movements: the CPI was 2.66% above August 2025, but 0.25% below July 2026.

The three numbers refer to different comparison windows. The 2.20% figure is the annual change in the January–August average. The 2.66% figure compares August 2026 with August 2025 alone. The minus 0.25% figure is the monthly change between August and the immediately preceding month, July. A small monthly decline can therefore occur while the annual price level remains higher than a year earlier. These rates measure changes in the CPI; they do not state the absolute price level, the expenditure of every household or each family’s personal cost of living.

The CPI tracks price changes for goods and services purchased by households. DoS’s methodological description says basket weights are based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, prices are collected from a sample of shops across the Kingdom, and the index uses the Laspeyres formula. This approach compares the price of a defined consumption basket over time. Because households buy different products and quantities, the national index does not mean each family’s bills changed by the same percentage.

The August monthly decline does not erase annual inflation: price movements over the preceding twelve months also affect the year-on-year comparison. Likewise, the eight-month average cannot be substituted for the rate in one month. The DoS release gives the headline rates, while its short summary does not describe detailed product-group contributions or effects by income group. The figures therefore do not establish that a particular product or policy caused inflation.

This report keeps the three measures attached to their reference periods: the January–August average annual change, August’s annual change and August’s monthly change. There is no single inflation figure that can replace all three for household budgets, business costs or wage discussions; the time window and price basket matter. The CPI is useful for following the general direction of prices, but it does not forecast next month, calculate the personal change in purchasing power for each household or explain by itself why an item became more expensive. The figures are observed period comparisons published by DoS.