Year on year, consumer prices rose 2.5%. The acceleration in price rises came mostly from the category: “Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”. Photo credit: Pixabay.
Czech Rep., Feb 19 (BD) – February data released by the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO) has revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a figure that tracks the overall cost of living in the Czech economy, has risen by 2.5% year-on-year from last January, and 1% in the last month alone. The rise was mostly due to increases in the cost of housing and fuel; month-on-month, electricity costs rose by 5.3%, and there were also substantial increases in the cost of heat energy (2.8%), water supply and sewage collection (2.6%). In other areas of the economy, large month-on-month increases were reported in the price of some alcoholic drinks (spirits: 8.1%, wine: 8.4%) and package holidays (11.5%).
There was also an acceleration in the year-on-year growth of the CPI, driven by the same area of housing and fuel. House rental costs are up 3.8% year-on-year, electricity costs are up by 8.2%, and heat energy by 3.8%. The sector as a whole recorded CPI increases of 4.9%. The overall inflation rate for January 2019 stood at 2.2%
The CPI increases recorded in the Czech Republic were above the EU28 average of 1.7% year-on-year. The highest increases in the EU were in Estonia (3.3%) and the lowest in Greece and Portugal (0.6%).
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