Consumer prices up 6.6% in the last 12 months

Most significant monthly price changes were increases in restaurants & hotels (+1.6%) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (+1.0%)

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 6.6% between May 2022 and May 2023, down from an annual increase of 7.2% in the 12 months to April 2023.

This marks the 20th straight month where the annual increase in the CPI has been at least 5.0%.

Consumer prices rose by 0.3% in the month between April 2023 and May 2023.

. Restaurants and hotels rose due to higher prices for hotel accommodation and higher costs of alcoholic drinks and food consumed in licensed premises, restaurants, cafes, etc.

Transport, housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels and communications all saw a decline when compared with April.

Meanwhile the divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to May 2023 were housing, water, electricity, gas & other fuels (+16.4%) and food & non-alcoholic beverages (+12.7%).

Education (-6.3%) and transport (-1.7%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with May 2022.

National Average Prices

The National Average Prices for selected goods and services for May have also been published. The National Average Prices are compiled together with the CPI.

“The National Average Price of a number of items rose in May 2023,” said Anthony Dawson, a statistician in the CSO’s prices division. “There were price increases for an 800g loaf of white sliced pan (+18c), an 800g loaf of brown sliced pan (+17c), 2 litres of full fat milk (+35c), and a pound of butter (+40c) when compared with May 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.