Consumer prices jumped 1.6% between January and February
CPI rose by 8.5% between February 2022 and February 2023
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 8.5% between February 2022 and February 2023, up from an annual increase of 7.8% in the 12 months to January 2023. This is the seventeenth straight month where the annual increase in the CPI has been at least 5.0%.
Consumer prices rose by 1.6% in the month between January 2023 and February 2023. The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to February 2023 were housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+26.0%) and food & non-alcoholic beverages (+13.1%).
Commenting on annual changes shown in the release, Anthony Dawson, statistician in the Central Statistics Office (CSO) prices division, said: “The latest publication for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices for consumer goods and services in February 2023 increased by 8.5% on average when compared with February 2022. This was up from 7.8% in the 12 months to January 2023. Prices have been rising on an annual basis since April 2021, with annual inflation of 5.0% or more recorded in each month since October 2021.
“The annual change in food & non-alcoholic beverages costs reflects a rise in prices across a range of products such as sugar (+30.8%), frozen fish (+26.9%), fresh whole milk (+26.8%), eggs (+22.9%), and butter (+22.2%) compared with February 2022. Education (-6.3%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.1%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with February 2022.”
The National Average Prices for selected goods and services for February are also published today.
The National Average Prices are compiled together with the CPI. Commenting on the National Average Prices, Anthony Dawson said: “The National Average Price of a number of items rose in February 2023. There were price increases for an 800g loaf of white sliced pan (+24c), an 800g loaf of brown sliced pan (+23c), 2 litres of full fat milk (+48c), and a pound of butter (+69c) when compared with February 2022.”
The comprehensive list of items included in the National Average Prices and their monthly prices are available at: https://data.cso.ie/table/CPM12.
