Costs of many pharma products rise at the start of new lockdown 

Costs of pharmaceutical products, appliances and equipment climbed 1% in the month. Picture: iStock

Prices for pharmaceutical products rose, and the costs of medical services such as dental fees were up sharply in the year, despite prices having fallen almost universally across the rest of the economy in the first weeks of the new lockdown, new official figures suggest.

The CSO figures for consumer prices in October, which capture the early weeks of the level 5 shutdown, show prices of goods and services across the economy continued to slide, by 0.6%, from September. And prices were down by a significant 1.5% compared with October 2019 – before the onset of the Covid-19 crisis this year.

However, the authoritative figures also show the costs of pharmaceutical products, appliances and equipment climbed 1% in the month and rose by more than 3% from October 2019 levels. 

The figures also show the cost of prescribed drugs was unchanged in the month but were up over 1% from a year earlier; that the costs of what the CSO categorises as "other medicines" shot up 3.6% in the month and were 5.3% higher compared with October 2019; while the prices of "other medical products" fell 0.3% in the month and were down 1.3% in the year.        

On medical services, the CSO figures show the costs of outpatient services were up 4.5% from October 2019; that doctors' fees were up by 3.8% from the same period; while the costs of dental services climbed by 5.4% in the year.      

The fall in private landlord rents – down 0.5% in the month and 3.2% lower in the year – probably reflect the large number of students who have returned home to their parents, as well as people who have been pushed back onto the Pandemic Unemployment Payment as their employers were shut down for a second time this year, according to economists. 

The CSO figures also show that the costs of mortgage interest rates fell 0.4% in the month, possibly reflecting the arrival of a new mortgage lender into the Irish market, but mortgage costs are still 2.4% more expensive compared with October last year.    

Over the whole economy, the CSO said prices fell significantly in the year for clothing and footwear, transport, furnishings, and household maintenance. It said there were price rises for its categories of health and alcoholic beverages and tobacco.