Consumer prices drop for third month in a row

Consumer prices were down for the third consecutive month in February, figures released by the Statistical Service showed on Thursday.

 

Compared to February 2017, the Consumer Price Index was decreased by 0.3% while for the period January - February 2018, CPI was down by 0.5% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

 

February was the third month in a row to record deflation, after January 2018 and December 2017.

 

In February 2018, the Consumer Price Index increased by 0.74 units to 98.56 units compared to 97.82 units in January 2018.

 

In the twelve-month period from March 2017 to February 2018, in comparison to the period from March 2016 to February 2017, the annual average rate of change of the CPI was 0,3%. The corresponding annual average rate of change of the CPI in the previous twelve-month period was -0.9%.

 

The largest change was recorded in agricultural goods with a decrease of 9.7% compared to February 2017, but there was an increase of 3.8% compared to the previous month.

 

On an annual basis, the largest change was recorded in food and non-alcoholic beverages (-4.3%), while transport saw an increase of 3.1%.

 

In comparison to the CPI of January 2018, an increase was noted in clothing and footwear (6.5%).

 

Between January-February 2018 the largest annual drop was in food and non-alcoholic beverages (-5.0%), while an increase of 2.4% was recorded in transport.