Housing and household equipment register the highest annual inflation rates in August

During August 2026, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI) stood at 2.6 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared with the previous month.

The RPI measures in index form the monthly changes in the cost of purchasing a constant representative basket of consumer goods and services.

Latest figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) show that the highest annual inflation rates in August were registered in housing and furnishings and household equipment, which amounted to 6.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively.

The Housing Index recorded an annual inflation rate of 6.8 per cent, driven by increases in rents, materials for house maintenance and services for house maintenance. Rent registered an annual inflation rate of 3.5 per cent, while materials for house maintenance and services for house maintenance registered rates of 8 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.

The lowest annual inflation rates were recorded in the clothing and footwear and water, electricity, gas and fuels indices.

According to the NSO statistics, the food, housing, and transport and communication indices made the largest upward contributions to the overall inflation rate, contributing 0.55, 0.54 and 0.34 percentage points respectively.