Annual rate of inflation slows to 6.3% in April

Cillian Sherlock, PA

The annual rate of inflation in Ireland slowed to 6.3 per cent in April, according to the latest estimates from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

That is down from 7 per cent in the 12 months up to March on the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which allows for comparisons with Eurozone countries.

The CSO said its flash estimate showed the HICP for Ireland also increased by 0.3 per cent since March 2023.

This compares with HICP inflation of 7 per cent in the State for the 12 months to March 2023 and an annual increase of 6.9 per cent in the HICP for the Eurozone in the same period.

Energy prices are estimated to have fallen by 1.3 per cent in the month and risen by 12.1 per cent over the 12 months to April 2023.

Food prices are estimated to have increased by 0.5 per cent in the last month and are up by 12.8 per cent in the last year.

The HICP excluding energy and unprocessed food is estimated to have risen by 11.9 per cent since April 2022.

Transport costs fell by 0.9 per cent in the month and are down by 2 per cent in the year to April 2023.

Eurostat will publish flash estimates of inflation from the EU HICP for the eurozone for April 2023 on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the CSO published an update on the State's own specific Consumer Price Index showing an annual rise by 7.7 per cent in March, down from 8.5 per cent in February.