Inflation rises to 2.65%

Consumer price index of January 2017

• Inflation has gone up to 2.65% in January from 2.03% in December.
• The consumer price index this month has increased by 0.74 points or 0.71%.
• Inflation based on the health index has increased to 2.18%, up from 1.78%.
• The most significant price increases in January have been registered for motor fuels, holiday villages, electricity, vegetables, domestic heating oil, alcoholic beverages, health insurance contribution, natural gas, water and telecommunications services. The products with the largest downward pressure were airplane tickets.

The consumer price index amounts to 104.28 points in January 2017. The index has increased by 0.74 point over the month. Inflation has edged up to 2.65% from 2.03%. The health index has gained 0.60 point to 104.65 points. Inflation based on the health index has accelerated to 2.18%, up from 1.78%. The most significant price increases this month have been registered for motor fuels, holiday villages, electricity, vegetables, domestic heating oil, alcoholic beverages, health insurance contribution, natural gas, water and telecommunications services. These have been partially compensated by price decreases for airplane tickets.

The consumer price index has risen by 0.74 points or 0.71% in January 2017 and now amounts to 104.28 points, compared to 103.54 points in December 2016 (2013=100).

The health index has gone up by 0.60 points to 104.65 points in January, compared to 104.05 points in December. The smoothed health index amounts to 102.05 points in January. The central index for public services and social benefits, set at 103.04 points, has not been exceeded over the month. The last time the central index was exceeded was in May 2016.

Products with the largest increasing effect in January were motor fuels, holiday villages, electricity, vegetables, domestic heating oil, alcoholic beverages, health insurance contribution, natural gas, water and telecommunications services. Airplane tickets provided the largest downward pressure compared to last month. The most important trends this month are:

Motor fuels became on average 4.5% more expensive. After seasonal adjustment, holiday villages have been on average 21.1% more expensive in January. Electricity became on average 2.0% more expensive. Prices for fresh vegetables increased on average by 5.3% in January. Prices for domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, have gone up by 4.7%. Alcoholic beverages were on average 2.7% more expensive over the month. The price of health insurance contribution increased by 3.7% on average. Natural gas has gone up on average by 2.2% on average. Prices of water have increased on average by 5.5%. Prices for telecommunications services have increased on average by 0.9%.

Prices for airplane tickets have gone down by 5.7% this month.

Inflation now amounts to 2.65% compared to 2.03% last month and 1.77% in November. Inflation based on the health index was also on the rise and now stands at 2.18% compared to 1.78% in December and 1.65% in November. Inflation without energy has gone up to 1.74% in January compared to 1.65% last month and 1.72% in November. Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, amounts to 1.54% in January, compared to 1.53% in December and 1.67% in November.

Inflation of food now amounts to 2.01%, compared to 1.94% last month and 2.06% in November. Fish and shellfish prices are now 10.6% higher than in January last year. Within this product group, fresh fish and shellfish have increased in price by respectively 13.1% and 23.1% compared with January 2016. Oils and fats have gone up by 7.7% in a year. Fruit now costs 1.5% more than in January 2016. Vegetable prices are also on the rise: 12.4% on an annual basis. Non-alcoholic beverages now cost 0.3% less than in January 2015. For alcoholic beverages, consumers now have to pay 0.8% more than in January last year. Tobacco now costs 5.8% more than in January last year.

Energy inflation is now running at 11.18%, up from 5.49% in December and 2.24% in November. This is the highest inflation level for this product group since February 2012, when it amounted to 12.83%. Electricity is now 19.4% more expensive than a year ago. By contrast, natural gas now costs 2.1% less than in January 2016. Prices for domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, have declined by 8.4% over a year. Motor fuels are now 18.5% more expensive than a year ago. Inflation for services has increased to 2.39% from 2.09%. Especially telecommunications services (6.4%), transport services (3.7%) and restaurants and bars (3.2%) experienced a high inflation rate. Inflation for rents increased to 0.94% from 0.89% last month.