Inflation falls to 4.1% in year to January

Kenneth Fox

The Consumer Price Index (I) rose by 4.1 per cent in the year to January, down from an annual increase of 4.6 per cent in the 12 months to December 2023.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show it is only the third time since September 2021 that the annual growth in the I has been below 5 per cent, while also being the third consecutive month when the inflation rate was lower than 5 per cent.

Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the I rose by 5.3 per cent in the 12 months to January 2024.

The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to January 2024 were recreation & culture (+9.3 per cent) and restaurants & hotels (+7.2 per cent).

The only division to record a decline when compared to January 2023 was clothing and footwear (-1.3 per cent).

Consumer prices fell by 1.3 per cent in the month between December 2023 and January 2024.

The divisions with the largest decreases in the month were clothing and footwear (-10.1 per cent) and transport (-4.1 per cent).

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+2.4 per cent) was the only division that rose when compared with December 2023.