Inflation rate down to 0.3%

THE inflation rate, a measure of the percentage change in items for the month of July 2024 as compared to July 2023, is 0.3 per cent.

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) shared this information on August 19.

The CSO said the inflation rate for July 2024/July 2023 represented a decrease from the June 2024/June 2023 inflation rate, which stood at 0.7 per cent.

The inflation rate for the comparative period July 2023/July 2022 was 4.7 per cent.

The CSO said the all-items index for the month of July was 123.9 points, a 0.2 per cent increase over the all-items index for June.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 0.7 per cent, from 148.6 points in June to 149.6 in July. The CSO said there were increases in fresh whole chicken, Irish potatoes, soya bean oil, plantains, frozen whole chicken, table margarine, eggs, ochroes, carite and dasheen. The impact of the increases was offset by a general decrease in the prices of pumpkin, tomatoes, melongene, white flour, celery, grapes, green sweet peppers, melon, mixed fresh seasoning and garlic.

It added that several sub-indices saw increases, including alcoholic beverages (1.7 per cent), clothing and footwear (0.1 per cent), home ownership (0.7 per cent), rent (0.1 per cent), healthcare (0.1 per cent), communication (0.1 per cent), recreation and culture (0.4 per cent), hotels, cafés and restaurants (0.9 per cent) and miscellaneous goods and services (0.1 per cent).

Sub-indices that saw decreases included furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (2.2 per cent) and transport (0.5 per cent).