Consumer Prices Increase In July

Consumer Prices in July, as measured by the CPI, increased by 0.3% in the month. This is the same monthly increase as recorded in July of last year.

As a result, the annual rate of inflation increased slightly to 5.0%, up from 4.9% in June.

The E.U. Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) decreased by 0.2% in the month, compared to a decrease of 0.1% in July 2006.

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

The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels ( up 21.8%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (up 5.6%), Education (up 4.5%) and Restaurants & Hotels (up 4.1%).

Balancing these were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (down 1.4%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (a decrease of 1.1%).

The annual rate of inflation for Services was 8.7% in July, while Goods increased by 0.6% in the year.

The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels and Transport.

These in turn were partially offset by decreases in Clothing & Footwear and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance.

The main factors contributing to the monthly change were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels. Higher average mortgage interest repayments, due to the latest interest rate increase, as well as rising home heating oil prices also contributed to the increase.

Transport prices also rose due to increases in air fares and petrol prices.

The CPI excluding tobacco index for July was up 0.3% in the month and up 4.7% in the year.

The CPI excluding energy products index was up 0.2% since June and increased by 5.1% in the year.

The CPI excluding mortgage interest decreased by 0.2% in the month and rose by 2.5% in the year.