Fastest fall in cost of living in decades

THE cost of living is falling at the fastest rate in seven decades, with food and clothing prices likely to plunge further over the coming months.

With consumers benefiting from a supermarket price war, heavy discounting by retailers and successive interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank, the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures reveal how prices have fallen at an annual rate of 5.9% in July, compared with a rate of 5.4% in June.

Almost two out of three firms have also said they have dropped their prices over the last year, with economists predicting further price falls.