Higher jewellery prices drive Malta’s inflation rate upwards in October

Malta’s annual inflation rate jumped to 1.6 per cent in October 2024, from 1.2 per cent the previous month.

The Retail Price Index showed that the highest annual inflation rates in October 2024 were registered in other goods and services (four per cent) and personal care and health (3.2 per cent).

On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in furnishings and household equipment (-0.9 per cent) and transport and communication (-0.3 per cent).

In October 2024, the largest upward contribution to the overall annual inflation was registered in the food index (+0.65 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of vegetables.

The second and third largest contributions were measured in the other goods and services index (+0.29 percentage points) and the personal care and health idex (+0.29 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of insurances and articles of personal hygiene, respectively.

The downward contributions to the overall annual inflation were registered in furnishings and household equipment (-0.06 percentage points) and in transport and communication (-0.06 percentage points), mainly reflecting lower prices of household appliances and mobile phone services, respectively.

In October 2024, the other goods and services index registered the highest annual inflation rate at four per cent, of which jewellery, watches and other articles registered an annual rate of 8.5 per cent, non-durable household goods registered an annual rate of 4.9 per cent, veterinary services (including pet food) and domestic services registered an annual rate of 0.2 per cent, and insurances, financial services and other services registered an annual rate of 3.9 per cent.

The furnishings and household equipment index registered the lowest annual inflation rate of -0.9 per cent, of which furniture and furnishings registered an annual rate of 0.8 per cent, Carpets and household textiles registered an annual rate of five per cent, and household appliances and utensils registered an annual rate of -4.7 per cent.