The increase in prices has been significantly restrained this year after the wave created by the war in Ukraine. According to INSTAT data, the annual change in the consumer price index in August was 2.0%, while a year ago this change was 4.0%. This was the lowest level since June 2021.

Compared to August 2023, the largest increase in prices is observed in the group "entertainment and culture" with 4.0%, followed by the groups "clothing and shoes" with 3.9%, "alcoholic beverages and tobacco" with 3.6 %, "furniture, home appliances and home maintenance" with 3.5%, "food and non-alcoholic beverages" with 2.4%, "educational service" with 2.2%, "miscellaneous goods and services" with 2, 1%, "hotels, cafes and restaurants" with 1.8%, "rent, water, fuel and energy" with 1.5%, "health" with 1.4%, "communication" with 0.6%. On the other hand, the prices of the "transport” group decreased by 3.1%.

Within the food group, the prices of the subgroup "vegetables including potatoes" increased by 5.5%, followed by the subgroups "milk, cheese and eggs" by 4.4%, "fish" by 4.2%, "meat" by 3.1%, "sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and sweets" with 2.9%, etc.

The annual increase in prices in August was mainly influenced by the group "food and non-alcoholic beverages" with 0.86 percentage points, followed by the group "rent, water, fuel and energy" with 0.29 percentage points.

Also, the prices of the group "furniture, home appliances and home maintenance" were affected by 0.26 percentage points increase, the prices of the group "alcoholic beverages and tobacco" by 0.17 percentage points, the prices of the group "clothing and shoes" by 0.14 percentage points, the prices of the "miscellaneous goods and services" group with 0.12 percentage points, the prices of the "hotels, cafes and restaurants" group with 0.10 percentage points, the prices of the "entertainment and culture" group " with 0.09 percentage points, the prices of the "educational service" group with 0.07 percentage points, the prices of the "health" group with 0.05 percentage points, the prices of the "communication" group with 0.02 points percentage and the prices of the "transport" group with a decrease of 0.19 percentage points.

Compared to July 2024, the prices of the "entertainment and culture" group increased by 1.8%, followed by "food and non-alcoholic beverages" by 1.0%, "clothes and shoes" by 0.6%, "alcoholic beverages and tobacco", “rent, water, fuel and energy" and "communication" with 0.4% each, "furniture, home appliances and home maintenance" and "hotels, cafes and restaurants" with 0.3% each, " educational service" and "miscellaneous goods and services" with 0.2% each, "health" with 0.1%. On the other hand, the prices of the "transport" group decreased by 0.7%.