Inflation edges upwards to 1.4% in July

In July 2024, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the RPI was 1.4 per cent, up from 1.3 per cent in June 2024.

A new release by the National Statistics Office noted that the highest annual inflation rates in July 2024 were registered in other goods and services (5.2 per cent) and pPersonal care and health (3.8 per cent).

On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in transport and communication (-1.0 per cent) and furnishings and household equipment (-0.7 per cent).

In July 2024, the largest upward contribution to the overall annual inflation was registered in the food index (+0.58 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of restaurant services.

The second and third largest contributions were measured in the other goods and services index (+0.38 percentage points) and the personal care and health Index (+0.33 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 the transport and communication Index (-0.21 percentage points) and the furnishings and household equipment Index (-0.05 percentage points), mainly reflecting lower prices of mobile phone services and household appliances, respectively.

Over the same period, the other goods and services index registered the highest annual inflation rate at 5.2 per cent, of which jewellery, watches and other articles registered an annual rate of 9.6 per cent, non-durable household goods registered an annual rate of 6.9 per cent, veterinary services (including pet food) and domestic services registered an annual rate of 1.5 per cent and insurances, financial services and other services registered an annual rate of 4.7 per cent.

The transport and communication index registered the lowest annual inflation rate of -1.0 per cent, of which transport registered an annual rate of 1.2 per cent and communication registered an annual rate of -8.2 per cent.