Consumer prices in Ireland were 3.2 per cent higher in November than the same month last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday, as inflation in the Irish economy continued to pick up steam.
On an annual basis, prices accelerated last month at the fastest pace since February 2024, with education, clothing, and food prices all contributing to the headline consumer price index (CPI) increase.
Prices linked to education climbed by close to 9 per cent over the 12 months to the end of November, largely due to the Government’s decision to hike third-level fees for the current academic year.
However, the CSO said the categories that made the biggest contribution to annual inflation continued to be restaurants and hotels, housing and utilities such as gas and electricity, and food and non-alcoholic beverages.
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Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices, up 4.3 per cent since last November, continued to rise as supermarkets pass on higher costs to consumers.
The annual rate of increase was slightly lower than the 4.5 per cent rise recorded in October but, overall, food prices accounted for 14 per cent of the 3.2 per cent jump in the headline index.
Food prices have increased due to higher global prices for a range of staples scocoa and coffee beans amid weather-related disruption to agriculture and supply chains.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK and RSM Ireland, said the decline in food price inflation from 4.5 per cent 4.3 per cent is “good news”.
He said: “The recent rise in agricultural commodity prices has probably peaked, and a stronger euro helps to weigh on the cost of imports.”
Housing and utilities prices, meanwhile, have climbed 3.5 per cent in the 12 months to the end of last month, largely due to sharp increases in private and local authority rents as well as mortgage interest charges.
Prices in this category accounted for almost 18 per cent of the headline 3.2 per cent increase in the CPI.
Restaurants and hotel prices, up 3.6 per cent since November 2024, made the biggest contribution to the headline increase, accounting for 22 per cent of the jump.
Inflation in this category has been driven by higher prices for alcoholic drinks and food consumed in licensed premises and restaurants, the CSO said.
Energy prices, which have fallen sharply after spiking in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, remain elevated and have underpinned consumer price inflation this year.
Speaking to The Irish Times last week, Daragh Cassidy of price comparison website Bonkers.ie said gas prices are around “double where they were three or four years ago before the war in Ukraine, and electricity prices are around 70 to 80 per cent higher than they were, so they are still very high”.
“The recent rise in inflation has been driven by energy inflation, which is now 3.3 per cent year-on-year, up from 2.7 per cent in October and is now firmly positive after being negative back in August,” Mr Pugh said.
“Some of that is being driven by base effects as energy prices were falling sharply last year, but pump prices rose strongly again in November as firms continue to pass on the latest increase in the carbon tax to consumers.
He added that inflation has probably peaked and is expected to drop back to around 2.6 per cent this month.
