Inflation Falls To 4.9% In June

Consumer Prices in June, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased by 0.2% in June.

This compares to an increase of 0.3% in June of last year and as a result, the annual rate of inflation fell to 4.9%, down from 5.0% in May.

The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased by 0.3% in the month, compared to an increase of 0.2% in June 2006.

The annual rate of inflation, as measured by the HICP, increased from 2.7% in May to 2.8% in June.

The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels ( up 22.6%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (up 5.6%), Education (up 4.8%), Restaurants & Hotels (up 4.3%), and Health ( up 2.7%).

There were decreases in Clothing & Footwear ( down 3.7%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (down 2.1%).

The annual rate of inflation for Services was 8.9% in June, while Goods increased by 0.6% in the year.

The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Transport ( up 0.8%), Restaurants & Hotels (up 0.7%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (up 0.6%). These were partially offset by a decrease in Clothing & Footwear (up 1.7%).

The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:

• Transport rose with increases in air fares and petrol prices.
• Restaurants & Hotels rose with higher prices for eating and drinking out and accommodation services.
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels costs increased with higher average mortgage interest repayments as well as higher prices for house maintenance services and home heating oil.
• Clothing & Footwear fell due to lower clothing prices.

The CPI for June was up 0.3% in the month and up 4.7% in the year. The CPI excluding energy products index was up 0.3% since May and increased by 5.1% in the year.

The CPI excluding mortgage interest increased by 0.2% in the month and rose by 2.6% in the year.