Inflation in Malta down to 1.3% in June 2024

The annual inflation rate in Malta continued its downward trajectory in June declining to 1.3 per cent from 1.5 per cent in May.

The figure is based on the Retail Price Index (RPI), one of two calculations for inflation used in Malta. The RPI is the basis on which the cost of living adjustment (COLA) is calculated at the end of the year.

Year-on-year prices increased most significantly in the other goods and services (4.5 per cent) and personal care and health (4.1 per cent) categories.

On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in transport and communication (-1.9 per cent) and clothing and footwear (-0.1 per cent).

In June 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 take-aways.

The second and third largest contributions were measured in the personal care and health index (+0.36 percentage points) and the other goods and services index (+0.33 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of articles of personal hygiene and cleaning products, respectively.

The downward contributions to the overall annual inflation were registered in the transport and communication index (-0.41 percentage points) and the clothing and footwear index (-0.01 percentage points), mainly reflecting lower prices of mobile phone services and footwear, respectively.

In June 2024, the other goods and services index registered the highest annual inflation rate at 4.5 per cent, of which jewellery, watches and other articles registered an annual rate of 1.1 per cent, non-durable household goods registered an annual rate of 8.3 per cent, veterinary services (including pet food) and domestic services registered an annual rate of 1.6 per cent and insurances, financial services and other services registered an annual rate of 4.9 per cent.

The transport and communication index registered the lowest annual inflation rate of -1.9 per cent, of which transport registered an annual rate of zero per cent and communication registered an annual rate of -8.2 per cent.