Cost of living almost unchanged in January – NSO

In January 2021, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)
remained at a constant rate of 0.2 per cent, the NSO said this morning. The 12-month moving average rate for January stood at 0.7 per cent (Table 2).

The largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the Clothing and Footwear Index (+0.10 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of garments. The second and third largest impacts were measured in the
Health Index (+0.08 percentage points) and the Education Index (+0.05 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices
of medical services and private school fees respectively.

The largest downward impacts on annual inflation were registered in the Transport Index (-0.08 percentage points), the
Communication Index (-0.02 percentage points) and the Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household
Maintenance Index (-0.01 percentage points), mainly reflecting lower prices of fuels, mobile phone equipment and household
textiles respectively.

via NSO