Inflation falls again in September as prices remain unchanged

"Increased energy costs are reflected in the yearly increase of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels," the CSO said.

Inflation has remained above 5% for a full year now, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said, but the rate at which prices are rising has tempered somewhat in recent months.

For September, the Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 8.2%, the CSO has said. This compares to 8.7% in August and 9.1% in July and June.

Although this rate is falling, it is still significantly higher than at any other point in recent decades.

Furthermore, a separate publication from the CSO today shows that property price rises are also slowing down with the cost of a home increasing by 12.2% in the 12 months to August 2022. The median price of a home purchased in Ireland now stands at €295,100, the CSO said.

As pointed out by the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisors chairperson Trevor Grant, however, “a reduction on house price growth is a million miles away from house prices falling”.

The CSO said prices outside Dublin rose by 14.2% in the last year and by just under 10% in the capital.

When it comes to the cost of everyday items, the price of energy continues to drive the inflation surge.

In the year to September, electricity rose by 36.2%, gas by 55.1% and home heating oil by 83.8%.

Private rents, meanwhile, are up 11.6% across the economy while diesel (up 32.5%) and petrol (15.1%) are also significantly higher than this time last year.

Food, meanwhile, is also on the rise and up 9.9% on this time last year. In the last three months alone, the price of food has risen by almost 3%.

The CSO has also published its list of national average prices, which takes an average price for common items and compares them to the previous year.

It said: “The national average price for bread (large (800g) white sliced pan) was up 26c in the year to September 2022, while the same size brown sliced pan was up 22c in the year.

“Full fat milk per 2 litres increased by 41c in the year while the average price of Irish cheddar per kg rose by €1.23 and butter per lb rose by 67c.” 

A kilogramme of pork sausages now costs about 60c more than it did this time last year, a fresh fillet of cod is up over €2 per kilo, while a dozen eggs is up around 12c.

Meanwhile, the national average price of a pint of stout in a licensed premises was €5.14, up 19c a pint in the year, while a pint of lager was €5.55, up 25c compared with September 2021.

The impact of rising mortgage interest rates is beginning to be borne out in the figures, meanwhile, up 7.6% on the year.

Housing

Turning to the property figures, the CSO said prices outside Dublin rose by 14.2% in the last year and by just under 10% in the capital.

The cost of buying a home in Ireland is now 2.2% above the Celtic Tiger property boom peak in April 2007. Since property prices cratered in early 2013, they have more than doubled and risen 127.9%.

Having previously been in the top three most expensive places to buy in Ireland outside the capital, Kinsale’s median house price of €400,000 is now eclipsed by Dunboyne, Co Meath, where the median price is now €410,000.

It lies behind Greystones (€510,000) and Bray (€465,000) as the most expensive Eircode to buy a home in the country outside of Dublin.