Updated 5.45pm - Added PN statement
Fuel, take away food and wine were among the main items that pushed inflation, according to official figures published on Wednesday.
The National Statistics Office said the latest inflation Retail Price Index figures for July, showed that the largest upward impact on prices was coming from the food index – one of the categories of products in a basket of goods, upon which inflation and cost of living is calculated.
The Retail Price Index measures monthly price changes in the cost of purchasing the basket of goods and services.
After food (2.92 per cent), household equipment and house maintenance costs (2.05 per cent) had the greatest impact on the rate of inflation.
The lowest rate of inflation was registered in the clothing and footwear category (-3.08 per cent).
The NSO statement came 24 hours after anti-poverty campaigners warned that government calculations on the cost of living needed to be updated as they were not helping those most in need.
Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar said this basket was often filled with items that lower income and poor people could not afford and so the rates established by the exercise did not take into consideration the poorer in society.
Meanwhile, the NSO also said that the 12-month average rate of inflation was 1.04 per cent.
Last week the NSO said consumer price inflation had reached 2.1 per cent in July when compared to the same month the previous year.
'Bad for families' - PN
The Nationalist Party highlighted the almost three per cent rise in food prices, and said that Eurostat figures showed that local foodstuffs were already roughly 10 per cent costlier than the EU average.
These rising costs were a concern for local families, PN economy spokesperson Kristy Debono said, adding that they came on the back of "government theft" through its tariff billing system. Electricity costs, she said, had risen by 7.1 per cent last year.
"Inflation is eating into people's wages," Ms Debono said, arguing that many were not seeing any benefit to economic growth.