Irish inflation slows but energy prices up 38% over the year

Michael McAleer

Irish inflation has risen by 8.6 per cent in the year to September, but that is lower than the 9 per cent increase recorded up to August.

Irish prices are rising at a slower rate than in Euro zone as a whole, where inflation is estimated to have gone up by 10 per cent in the last 12 months, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office.

Anthony Dawson, a statistician in the prices division of the CSO, said that just three of the 19 euro zone countries had a lower annual increase than the estimate of 8.6 per cent for Ireland while 15 countries had higher rates.

Estonia had the highest estimated annual inflation at 24.2 per cent while had the lowest at 6.2 per cent.

Mr Dawson said the estimates, which are subject to revision when they are finalised next month, suggest that Irish energy prices remained static within the month of September but were up 38 per cent over the year. He said that for the euro zone overall, energy prices were up by 40.8 per cent on an annual basis.