The downward trend in inflation continued in January 2024, as it fell below 8% for the first time since May 2022.
In fact, the inflation rate stood at 7.8%, compared to 8.1% in December 2023, the National Statistics Institute (INS) announced on Monday.
The INS said this fall in inflation, despite the monthly increase, was due to the slowdown in the rate of price increases between January and December compared with the same period last year.
In January 2024, food prices rose by 12.1% year-on-year. This increase was mainly due to a 35% rise in the price of coffee powder, a 22.9% rise in the price of sheep meat, a 22.7% rise in the price of edible oils, a 20% rise in the price of condiments, a 19.3% rise in the price of fresh vegetables, a 14% rise in the price of beef and a 11.9% rise in the price of fresh fish.
Industrial goods went up by 6.9%, driven by a 5% increase in the price of construction materials, a 9.9% rise in the price of clothing and a 7.4% increase in the price of household goods.
In services, prices rose by 5.5% year-on-year, mainly due to an 11.1% increase in the price of restaurants, cafés and hotels, 13.8% for financial services and 5.1% for insurance services.
In January 2024, the core inflation rate (excluding food and energy) fell to 6.8% from 7.1% in the previous month. Prices for unregulated products rose by 9.3% year-on-year. Prices for regulated products rose by 3%, while unregulated food products rose by 13.5% compared with 3.4% for regulated food products.
