Consumer Price Index – 4th Quarter 2018

The Consumer Price Index, which stood at 102.0 in September 2018, registered a net increase of 0.4 point (or 0.4%) to reach 102.4 in December 2018.

The main reasons for the net increase in the CPI from September to December 2018 were:

Higher prices for vegetables (+0.2 point), fish (+0.1 point), beer and stout (+0.1 point), air tickets (+0.2 point) and motor vehicles (+0.1 point); partly offset by lower prices of meat, some other food products, whisky and goods for personal care, which each accounted for -0.1 point.

The headline inflation rate was 3.2% for year 2018 compared to 3.7% for year 2017.

The headline inflation rate excluding ‘Alcoholic beverages and tobacco’ was 3.1% for year 2018 compared to 2.5% for year 2017.