Bi-monthly price index up slightly but annual inflation trending downwards
When comparing average consumer prices over a twelve month period (Dec. 2015 to Dec. 2016), an increase of 0.1 percent was recorded compared to the same period one year earlier. Inflation has shown an overall decline in 2016 (0.1%) compared to the rate of inflation recorded in 2015 (0.3%). This is also notable in the major expenditure categories; ‘Food’, ‘Housing’ and ‘Transport & Communication’, which all continued to show low rates of inflation in 2016. Markedly, five of the nine expenditure categories which accounted for 77% of total expenditure, recorded deflation in December 2016, significantly impacting the lower annual inflation rate result in 2016.