The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices went up by 1.4 per cent in March compared to February, the National Statistics Office said.

It said this primarily reflected an increase of 6.7 per cent in the restaurants and hotels index, mainly due to a seasonal increase in the price of accommodation services.

A seasonal price rise in garments caused the clothing and footwear index to go up by 3.4 per cent. The transport index registered an increase of 0.8 per cent, mainly due to higher airfares.

An upward movement in the prices of dairy products caused the food and non-alcoholic beverages index to go up by 0.5 per cent. The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index went up by 0.2 per cent, mainly on account of costlier materials for the maintenance and repair of dwellings.

A similar increase was recorded in the furniture, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house index, mainly due to higher prices of textiles.

The health index increased by 0.1 per cent, mainly on account of higher fees for medical and paramedical services.

The miscellaneous goods and services index registered an increase of 0.1 per cent due to higher prices of jewellery items.

The recreation and culture index went down by 1.9 per cent, mainly on account of lower prices for package holidays as well as for plants and flowers.

A decrease of 0.1 per cent was recorded in the communication index due to lower-priced telephone equipment and telephone services fees.

In March, the 12-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 1.2 per cent, whereas the annual rate of inflation stood at 0.6 per cent.

In the EU, euro area inflation was 1.4 per cent in March, up from 0.9 per cent in February. EU annual inflation was 1.9 per cent in March from 1.5 per cent in February.