Price index up 1.5% in March

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices went up by 1.5 percent last month when compared to the previous month, the NSO said today.

The National Statistics Office said this primarily reflected an increase of 5.6 percent in the clothing and footwear index, mainly due to seasonal price rises in garments.

The restaurants and hotels index rose by 5.1 percent.

An upward movement in the price of vegetables brought about an increase of 1.7 percent in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index . The furniture, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index registered an increase of 0.3 percent, mainly due to price rises of tools, equipment and other miscellaneous accessories necessary for house maintenance works.

Higher prices of package holidays brought about an increase of 0.2 percent in the recreation and culture index. Upward shifts in the prices of hairdressing services underlay an increase of 0.2 percent in the miscellaneous goods and services index.

The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index registered an increase of 0.1 percent, mainly on account of higher rents paid by tenants. Lower prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport resulted in a drop of 0.4 percent in the transport index.

In March, the 12-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 4.6 percent unchanged since December, when it was 4.7 percent. The annual rate of inflation stood at 3.9 percent, an increase from 3.5 percent in February.

In contrast, Eurostat said today that the EU27 annual inflation rate went down, from 1.8 percent in February to 1.3 percent in March.