Irish consumer price inflation slowed annually in January from a month earlier, according to the Central Statistics Office on Thursday.
The annual rate of inflation slowed to 4.1% in January from 4.6% in December. On a monthly basis, prices deflated 1.3% in January compared to 0.5% inflation in December.
‘This is only the third time since September 2021 that the annual growth in the CPI was below 5%, while also being the third consecutive month where the inflation rate was lower than 5%,’ said Anthony Dawson, statistician in the prices division of the CSO.
The most notable changes were in Recreation & Culture up 9.3%, Restaurants & Hotels up 7.2%, Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco up 4.7% and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages up 4.6%. Clothing & Footwear prices, meanwhile, declined 1.3%.
On a harmonised basis, allowing for EU-wide comparison, annual inflation slowed to 2.7% in January from 3.2% in December. This was unchanged from a flash estimate released at the end of last month.
On a monthly basis, harmonised consumer prices fell 1.4% in January compared to a 0.4% rise in December. This was also unchanged from the flash estimate.
In a separate release, the CSO reported exports fell in December to €13.93 billion from €15.30 billion a year earlier, alongside imports falling to €11.95 billion from €12.60 billion.
Across 2023, exports fell to €197.25 billion from €208.76 billion in 2022, while imports fell to €139.51 billion from €141.04 billion.
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