The annual rate of inflation fell to 2.3 per cent in August, down from 2.4 per cent in July, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.
The most notable changes in the basket over the past 12 months have been in utilities such as gas, electricity and water (+10.5 per cent), education (+6.8 per cent) and health (+6.6 per cent).
There were decreases in clothes and shoes (-2.7 per cent) and miscellaneous goods and services such as hairdressing and dry cleaning (-1.5 per cent).
The annual rate of inflation for goods was 0.8 per cent in August; the corresponding rate for services was 3.5 per cent.
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On the EU HICP measure, the annual rate of inflation slowed to 2.1 per cent from 2.2 per cent in July, in line with the euro zone average.