The inflation rate is close to the maximum value since 1998. This was indicated by the Czech statistical office.
Consumer prices rose 4.4% month-on-month in January, the highest since January 1993. In the housing sector, electricity prices rose by 38.6% and natural gas prices by 31.3% . This increase in consumer prices was largely influenced by the VAT return on electricity and natural gas prices. According to the indicative calculation of the CZSO, the National Statistics Center, the impact of this change on the monthly aggregate increase in the consumer price index in January represented an increase of 1.4 percentage points.
Prices of heating and hot water increased by 9.9%, products and services for routine maintenance and home repairs by 3.6%, solid fuels by 6.5%, water supply by 5.3% and 6.4% sewerage. In “food and non-alcoholic beverages”, the prices of baked goods and cereals increased by 4.2%, meat by 2.7%, soft drinks by 5.8%, fruit by 7.4%, vegetables by 4.3% (of which potato prices were 8.3% higher), cheeses and ricotta by 3.6%, eggs by 12.9%, oils and fats by 5.1%. The increase in the overall level of consumer prices in January was also influenced by the increase in the prices of ‘alcoholic beverages and tobacco’ , where the prices of wine increased by 8.9%, of spirits by 7.3% and 4.6% of beer. The price trend in ‘recreation and culture’ was mainly influenced by a 10.8% increase in the prices of vacation packages.
The prices of goods in total increased by 5.9% and the prices of services by 2.2%.
Year-over-year comparison
“Consumer prices rose nearly 10% from January last year. This is the highest since July 1998, when year-on-year price growth hit 10.4%. Housing, fuel prices and food had the greatest impact on the January index level year-on-year ” says Pavla Šedivá , head of CZSO’s consumer price statistics department.
The year-over-year increase in the price level is mainly due to prices in the housing sector, where, in addition to the costs of owned housing, rental prices increased by 4.3%, water costs by 5.3% % and those of the sewers by 6.4%. Subsequently, in order of influence, there were prices in “transport”, where the prices of cars were higher by 11.1% and of fuels and oils by 28.1%. In “food and non-alcoholic beverages”, prices for long-life semi-skimmed milk were higher by 16.0% on an annual basis, than potatoes by 16.0% and sugar by 21.1%. In the ‘clothing and footwear’ sector, clothing prices increased by 17.4%.
Source: www.czso.cz
Sources of images: Pixabay.com; Storyset.com
