Irish inflation rises to 3.2% despite tumbling energy prices
On an annual basis, energy prices have risen by 6.4% over the 12 months to December 2023, with food prices growing by 5.3% in the same period.
Irish inflation increased once again in December, straying further from the eurozone average of 2.4%.
Latest figures from the Central Statistics Office found that annual Irish inflation increased to 3.2% last month following price rises across non-core items.
That is up notably from just 2.5% in November, with inflation rising despite continued tumbles in energy prices and steadying food costs.
Figures show that energy prices decreased in December by 2.6%, with food prices remaining unchanged compared to the previous month, leaving the increase in annual inflation to price rises across the wider economy.
On an annual basis, energy prices have risen by 6.4% over the 12 months to December 2023, with food prices growing by 5.3% in the same period.
Excluding energy and unprocessed food, annual Irish inflation is estimated to have grown by 4.3% since December 2022.
While non-core items continued to fall, transport costs rose by 0.7% in the month, one of the few wider sectors resulting in rising inflation.
These inflation figures are calculated using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, a method of measuring price levels used by the EU Statistics Agency, Eurostat to allow comparisons across Eurozone countries.
In Ireland, the CSO uses another measurement, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to measure price levels.
Unlike the CPI, the Harmonised Index of Consumer prices does not include mortgage interest rates, leading to a disparity between the two measurements.
Following ten interest rate increases by the European Central Bank since 2022, Irish inflation is notably higher when calculated by the CPI, compared to the Eurostat measurement.
HICP data for the entire eurozone are due out tomorrow, January 5th.
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