Consumer Prices in August, as measured by the CPI, increased by 0.5% in the month. This is the same as the increase recorded in August of last year. The annual rate of inflation fell to 4.3%, down from 4.4% in July 2008.
The EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) showed no change in the month, compared to an increase of 0.4% in August 2007. As a result, the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the HICP, decreased from 3.6% in July to 3.2%
in August.
The most notable changes in the year were increases in Education (+6.5%). There were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (-5.1%) and Furnishings (-1.9%).
The annual rate of inflation for Services was 5.3% in August, while Goods increased by 3.5% in the year. The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Clothing & Footwear (+5.8%).
The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:
• Clothing & Footwear rose following the conclusion of some summer sales.
Clothing and Footwear:
Clothing&Footwear prices increased by 5.8% in the month and decreased by 5.1% in the year to August 2008. This compares to a decrease of 3.4% for the year to August 2007. In the month, clothing prices increased by 6.2%, while footwear prices increased by 3.9%. In the month, price increases were recorded for garments (+6.8%), shoes & other footwear (+4.0%), other articles of clothing (+0.3%) and repair & hire of footwear (+0.3%).
The CPI excluding tobacco index for August increased by 0.5% in the month and was up 4.3% in the year. The CPI excluding energy products index was up by 0.6% since July and increased by 3.6% in the year. The CPI excluding mortgage interest showed no change in the month and rose by 3.2% in the year.
Central Statistics Office Ireland