TIRANA, Aug 7 /ATA/ Inflation, which measures the annual change in the price of goods, dropped in July to 4.2%, an all time low since March 2022, when prices began to rise sharply amid Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.
The Institute of Statistics published on Monday the Consumer Price Index, according to which the annual change in consumer prices in July was 4.2%. A year ago, this change was 7.5%. The monthly change in consumer prices in July 2023, compared to June 2023, is -0.1%.
The annual increase in prices in July was mainly influenced by the group “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” with 3.20%, followed by the group “furniture, household appliances and home maintenance” with 0.44%, “rent, water, fuel and energy” with 0.26%, “hotels, cafes and restaurants” with 0.23%, “entertainment and culture” with 0.22%. Prices of the group “various goods and services” increased by 0.21%, “alcoholic beverages and tobacco” by 0.19%, “clothing and footwear” by 0.16%, “educational service” by 0.06% , “health” with 0.05% and “communication” contributes with 0.04%.
On the other hand, the prices of the “transport” group decreased by 0.84%.
Within the food group, the prices of the subgroup “vegetables including potatoes” increased by 21.6%, followed by the subgroups “milk, cheese and eggs” by 13.8%, “meat” by 11.2%, “fruit” by 7 .0%, “fish” with 6.1%, “sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and sweets” with 3.6%, “bread and cereals” with 2.9%, etc.
Compared to June 2023, the prices of the “entertainment and culture” group decreased by 0.9%, followed by the prices of the “food and non-alcoholic beverages” group by 0.6%. On the other hand, the prices of the “transport” group increased by 0.7%, followed by “hotels, cafes and restaurants” by 0.6%, “alcoholic beverages and tobacco” and “clothing and footwear” by 0.4% each, “furniture, home appliances and home maintenance”, “health” and “various goods and services” with 0.2% each.
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