Inflation has declined by 0.2 percentage points in January 2014, reaching 5.8% against 6% in December 2013, according to the latest statistics from the National Statistics Institute (INS).
According to the INS, the decline in inflation is due to the deceleration in the “food and beverages” group prices, from 8.4 % in December 2013 to 7.6% in January 2014 yoy.
The same group grew7.6% in comparison with January 2013, due to a 8.8% rise in meat prices, edible oils (16.4%) , fruits and nuts ( 12.1%) , vegetables (9.8%) , beverages (3.3% ) and alcoholic beverages ( 14.6%).
The “clothing and footwear” group posted an increase of 7.1% yoy, due to rising prices of clothing 7.3%, shoes 7% and fabrics 4.4%.
The “housing and domestic energy” group index rose by 5.2 % compared with January 2013, due to higher prices of drinking water and sanitation 7.2%, following the last price increase, in addition to the 5.2% increase in rents and electricity and gas and oil 4.7%. If we exclude energy and food, the rate of inflation in January 2014 would be about 4.7%.
Annual slippage rate of free products reached 7%, against 2.8% for subsidized products, and that of free food products is around 9% against 0.3 % for subsidized food.
The price index for household consumption grew by 0.5 % in January 2014 compared with December 2013.
This increase is explained by the rise in food and beverages group index by 0.9%, ‘ housing and domestic energy (0.7%) , various products and services (0.6% ) , hospitality (0.6%) , furniture, household equipment and services (0.4%) , and clothing and footwear ( 0.3%).
