Consumer prices up 0.4% due to increases in rent and electricity

Consumer prices rose marginally in June as rising rents and increases in the price of electricity added to the burden on consumers.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 per cent compared with June 2017, and increased by 0.1 per cent in the month. Among the factors fuelling the yearly change were a 5.4 per cent rise in housing, electricity and other fuels, a 2.8 per cent increase in the cost of alcohol and tobacco and a 2.1 per cent rise in the prices charged at hotels and restaurants. That was partly offset by a decrease in the cost of furnishings and household equipment, which declined 4.1 per cent, and lower insurance premiums, which contributed to a 3.9 per cent decline in the miscellaneous goods and services category.

Summer sales

During the month, increases in the prices charged by restaurants and hotels, and the rising cost of transport, were offset by traditional summer sales in clothing and footwear, and a reduction in the price of meat and vegetables, which contributed to a 0.5 per cent decline in prices for food and nonalcoholic beverages.

The subindex for services rose by 1.0 per cent in the year to June; goods decreased by 0.2 per cent in the same period. When tobacco was removed from the annual figures, inflation rates fell back to 0.2 per cent. Excluding mortgage interest saw the annual rate of change pick up pace slightly to 0.5 per cent.