The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices stood at 1.2 per cent in December from 0.4 per cent a year earlier, the Statistics Office said today.
The main reason for the increase was the Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages Index (0.43 percentage points), the Restaurants and Hotels Index (0.29 percentage points) and the Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Index (0.22 percentage points).
The main downward impacts were recorded in the Transport Index (0.30 percentage points) and the Communication Index (0.10 percentage points), mainly due to lower fuel prices and cheaper mobile phones.