Filenews 17 March 2023
Harmonized inflation fell to its lowest level in 10 months in February 2023, on an annual basis, according to data released on Friday by the Statistical Service.
Specifically, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices and consequently the harmonized inflation in February 2023 increased by 6,7%, compared to February 2022, a level that is the lowest since April 2022.
Compared with the previous month, the harmonised CPI increased by 0.8%.
For the period January – February 2023, there was an increase of 6,8% compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Compared to February 2022, according to the Statistical Service, the categories Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas (18,8%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (9,5%) showed the largest changes.
Compared to January 2023, the largest change was recorded in the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages category (3,6%).
For the period January – February 2023 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, the largest changes were observed in the categories Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas (18,4%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (10,2%).
According to the Statistical Service, the largest change in economic categories compared to February 2022 was observed in the category Energy with a percentage of 13.5%. Compared to the previous month, the category Food, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (3.2%) recorded the largest change.
Table 1 | |||||
Categories of Goods and Services | HICP (2015=100) | Changes (%) | |||
January 2023 | February 2023 | Feb 23/ Feb 22 | Feb 23/ Jan 23 | Jan - Feb 23/ Jan - Feb 22 | |
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages | 116,52 | 120,69 | 9,5 | 3,6 | 10,2 |
Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco | 97,11 | 98,95 | 1,7 | 1,9 | 1,0 |
Clothing and Footwear | 92,30 | 93,80 | 2,0 | 1,6 | 1,2 |
Housing, Water, Electricity and LPG | 142,05 | 141,45 | 18,8 | -0,4 | 18,4 |
Furniture, Household Equipment and Cleaning Products | 103,31 | 103,70 | 8,6 | 0,4 | 8,3 |
Health | 104,85 | 105,03 | 1,4 | 0,2 | 1,3 |
Transport | 106,67 | 106,70 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3,4 |
Communications | 90,61 | 90,40 | -3,3 | -0,2 | -3,3 |
Recreation and Culture | 111,40 | 111,37 | 4,9 | 0,0 | 5,0 |
Education | 108,01 | 108,01 | 1,8 | 0,0 | 1,8 |
Restaurants and Hotels | 111,65 | 111,91 | 8,6 | 0,2 | 8,6 |
Other Goods and Services | 107,23 | 106,55 | 4,8 | -0,6 | 5,1 |
General Harmonised CPI | 110,33 | 111,23 | 6,7 | 0,8 | 6,8 |
Table 2 | ||||
Financial Categories | Weighting Factors | Changes (%) | ||
Feb 23/ Feb 22 | Feb 23/ Jan 23 | |||
General HICP | 1000 | 6,7 | 0,8 | |
Energy | 97,05 | 13,5 | -0,4 | |
Food-Alcoholic Beverages-Tobacco | 209,75 | 7,5 | 3,2 | |
Non-energy industrial products | 244,83 | 6,1 | 0,2 | |
Services | 448,37 | 4,9 | 0,1 | |
Note: The individual weights are calculated with infinite decimals and are published by rounding two decimal places. The difference in the sum is due to a rounding error.
