The Central Statistics Office (CSO) published an update on prices for consumer goods and services on May 12, showing that CPI was up by 7% in April – year on year.
Commenting on annual changes shown in the release, statistician Colin Cotter said: “Prices have been rising on an annual basis since April 2021, with an annual inflation of 5% or more recorded each month since October. The annual CPI increase to April 2022 is the largest observed in almost 22 years, when annual inflation also stood at 7% in November 2000.
The most significant increases in the year were seen in Transport, which was up 18.9%, and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels up 17.1%. The annual change in Transport costs reflects a rise in the cost of diesel (+40.1%), petrol (+23.9%), purchase of motor cars (+12.7%) and airfares (+92.7%). Increased energy costs are reflected in the yearly increase of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels with electricity up 27.8%, gas up 50.5%, liquid fuels (home heating oil) up 90.1% and solid fuels up 24.7% in the year.
Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-1.6%), Education (-0.8%) and Health (-0.4%) were the only divisions to show a decrease.
Meanwhile, the national average price for bread (large (800g) white sliced pan) was up 12.9 cent in the year to March 2022, while the same size brown sliced pan was up 22.2 cent in the year. Fresh salmon per kg decreased by 12.1 cent in the year while the average price for 2.5kg of potatoes decreased by 9.9 cent.
In March 2022, the national average price of a pint of stout in licensed premises was EUR 5.08 while a pint of lager was EUR 5.47.”