The Retail Price Index last month went down to 118.66 from 119.12 in October 2009, the NSO said today.

This primarily reflected a decrease of 3.44 per cent in the Transport and Communication Index, mainly brought about by downward shifts in the fares charged for air transport services.

The Food Index registered a drop of 0.23 per cent, mainly due to lower prices for fish.

Increases in the price of women's outerwear caused the Clothing and Footwear Index to go up by 3.51 per cent. The Beverages and Tobacco Index went up by 1.70 per cent, mainly on account of higher tobacco prices. Increases in the prices of certain jewellery items, as well as higher insurance fees, caused a rise of 0.40 per cent in the Other Goods and Services Index.

The Recreation and Culture Index went up by 0.31 per cent as a result of an increase in the prices of certain sports equipment items.

More expensive furniture items caused the Household Equipment and House Maintenance Cost Index to move upwards by 0.21 per cent. The Housing Index increased by 0.01 per cent, mainly due to higher prices of materials used for plumbing. In November, the twelve-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 2.56 per cent (from 2.99 in October), continuing a steady downward trend from 4.36 in April.

The annual rate of inflation stood at -0.26 per cent, from -0.18 in November and 1.18 in September.

Earostat reported last week that Euro areaannual inflation was 0.5% in November 2009, up from -0.1% in October. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was 0.1% in November 2009. EU annual inflation was 1.0% in November 2009, up from 0.5% in October. A year earlier the rate was 2.8%.