PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Department of Statistics (STAT) reports stable consumer prices in Sint Maarten for Q1 2026. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), key measure of everyday costs, reached 115.78, a modest 0.43% increase from Q4 2025 (115.28) and 0.66% year-on-year from Q1 2025 (115.02).
**Key Note on Data Collection:** CPI prices are collected during the first two weeks of each month, followed by validation (a detailed review) in the third or fourth week.
A fuel price surge began after the second week of March, coinciding with the war in Iran. As a result, Q1 2026 CPI was not affected as severely as expected. Offsetting factors included a decline in housing costs, as more affordable apartments entered the market.
Quarter 1 Overview (Q1 2026)
The CPI rose 0.43% compared to Q4 2025, signaling a slight upward trend to start of the year. Key category movements:
- Housing, Water and Energy (+0.57%): Driven by higher actual rentals, maintenance, and dwelling repairs.
- Transport (+0.68%): Fueled by transport services and personal transport operations (including fuel).
- Miscellaneous Goods and Services (-0.65%): Declines in personal care and personal effects (n.e.c.).
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+0.78%): Led by food products, vegetables, and meat; offset by -5.75% in milk, cheese, and eggs.
These shifts reflect balanced pressures across essentials, maintaining overall stability.
Inflation Annual Trends: Q1 2026 vs Q1 2025
Overall CPI rose moderately (+0.66%), but key categories showed notable year-on-year shifts: **
- Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.29%): Driven by food products (n.e.c., +16.07%) and coffee, tea, and cocoa (+8.83%).
- Transport (+2.45%): Led by transport services (+3.58%), which in turn was primarily driven by sub-component transport by air (+13.88%).
- Miscellaneous Goods and Services (-1.00%): Declines in financial services (n.e.c., – 4.69%) and personal care (-2.54%).
- Housing, Water and Energy (-1.57%): Pulled down by electricity, gas, and other fuels (- 7.64%), mainly electricity (-9.78%).
**Please see supporting documentation.
Fuel & Fuel Clause: Key Drivers Amid Island-Wide Discussions
Fuel prices (for vehicles), a topic of significant concern for every resident of Sint Maarten, experienced notable increases during the first quarter of 2026. As shown in Table 2, gasoline prices increased by 6.8% and diesel prices by 9.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. On a year-on-year basis (Q1 2026 vs. Q1 2025), gasoline prices rose by 5.0%, while diesel prices increased by 10.8%. Meanwhile, the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained relatively stable.
The Fuel Clause (Table 3) recorded a modest 0.53% quarter-on-quarter increase (Q1 2026 vs. Q4 2025), but declined 16% compared to Q1 2026, helping to ease inflationary pressures.
In summary, the most heavily weighted Housing, Water & Energy category (36.1%) recorded a year on-year decline of 1.57% with a fuel decline of 0.33% in Q1 2026 compared to 0.39% in Q1 2025. However, the offset movements in other sub-categories contributed to keeping overall CPI growth modest at only 0.66% in Q1 2026. (See table 4.)
Table 2. (Fuel Prices (Gasoline & Diesel) – QoQ and YoY) Table 3. Fuel Clause Trends – QoQ and YoY)
Contact Information
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at statinfo@sintmaartengov.org.
A copy of this report will also be published on the STAT website at stats.sintmaartengov.org
