Malta: Retail Index makes modest rise in July

The annual Retail Price Index in July stood at 0.62 percent, the lowest increase in the 31 months under review in data published by the National Statistics Office. In June, the annual rate had increase to 0.72 percent, up from 0.66 percent the month before.

The food index registered an annual inflation rate of 0.39 percentage points, the highest upwards driver in July. Clothing and Footwear, and Personal Care and Health were the second and third-highest contributors to the rise, gaining 0.24 percentage points and 0.23 percentage points, respectively.

Conversely, the Recreation and Culture index fell by 0.24 percentage points while Transport and Communication decreased by 0.23 percentage points to become the two biggest downward impacts on annual inflation.