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Inflation down to 5% after first monthly drop since 2020
Annual inflation eased to 5% in January from a 20-year high of 5.5% in December after a 0.4% month on month fall marked the first monthly drop in consumer prices for over a year, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show today.
Prices have been rising on an annual basis since April 2021, with annual inflation of 5% or more each month since October.
Today’s CSO figures show that consumer prices in January decreased by 0.4% on a monthly basis due to lower prices for clothing and footwear in the January sales.
The CSO said this marked the first monthly decrease after 14 months of rising prices, which was the longest consecutive sequence of monthly inflation since the monthly CPI series began in 1997.
The most significant annual price increases were seen in transport which were up 14.1% in January compared to the same time last year. Costs for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels increased by 12% and Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco rose by 8.4%.
The CSO said the big increase in transport costs reflected a rise in the cost of diesel, which was up 32%, while petrol prices increased by 29.5% and airfares rose by 26.7% compared to January 2021.
It noted that electricity costs were up 22.4%, gas prices increased by up 27.7% and the price of home heating oil soared by 50.1% on an annual basis.
The CSO also published updated national average prices for selected goods today.
These showed that the average price for a large white sliced pan was up 10 cent in the year to December 2021, while the same size brown sliced pan is up 13.2 cent in the year.
Butter per pound increased by 12 cent in the year while the average price for 80 tea bags increased by 5.2 cent.
The national average price of a pint of stout at €4.94 was up 6.1 cent on average from December 2020 while a pint of lager at €5.31 was up 4.9 cent, it added.
Article Source – Inflation down to 5% after first monthly drop since 2020 – RTE
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