Prices Fall By 5.9%

Consumer Prices in July, as measured by the CPI, decreased by 0.8% in the month. This compares to a decrease of 0.3% recorded in July of last year. As a result, prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 5.9% lower in July compared with July 2008.

The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) also decreased by 0.8% in the month, compared to a decrease of 0.5% in July of last year. As a result, prices on average, as measured by the HICP, were 2.6% lower in July compared with July 2008.

The most notable changes in the year were decreases in housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (down by 26.8%), clothing and footwear (down 11.2%), transport (down 6.2%) and food and non-alcoholic beverages (down 4.2%). There were increases in miscellaneous goods and services (up by 8.1%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (up 7.7%), education (up 4.4%) and healthcare (up 3.4%).

Services prices fell by 6.2% in the year to July, while goods fell by 5.5%.