Consumer Price Index December 2022

Soundbyte

This is an audio file with a 38-second quote from CSO statistician with the Prices Division, Anthony Dawson, about the December 2022 Consumer Price Index release.
Media outlets have permission to use the clip as long as they credit the CSO.

Headline Table and Graph

Figure 1 shows the development of the CPI and HICP over recent months. It also shows the recent divergence of the CPI and HICP. This divergence is due to some items having different weights in the respective indices.

Consumer Price Index Annual Review - 2022

The annual average rate of inflation in 2022 was +7.8%. This compares to an increase of +2.4% for 2021 and a decrease of 0.3% for 2020.

The largest year-on-year price increase was recorded in October 2022 when prices rose by 9.2% compared with the previous October. This was the highest rate of inflation since June 1984 when inflation was 9.7%.

The largest price increases were recorded for Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+20.6%), Transport (+13.9%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+8.0%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+6.8%). The largest decrease was recorded for Education (-2.2%).

During 2022, prices for energy products rose on average by 41.2% compared to an increase of 12.3% in 2021. The price of Goods increased on average by 9.0% compared to a rise of 1.5% in 2021. The price of Services (which includes mortgage interest) rose by 6.9% compared to a rise of 2.7% the previous year.

Annual and Monthly Price Changes

Prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 8.2% higher in December 2022 compared with December 2021.

The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+25.9%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+11.7%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+10.7%) and Restaurants & Hotels (+8.1%). There were decreases in Education (-7.1%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%).

Consumer Prices in December, as measured by the CPI, decreased by 0.2% in the month. During December 2021, prices rose by 0.5% in the month. The most significant monthly price changes were decreases in Transport (-2.6%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (-0.7%). There were increases in Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.3%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.0%).

Contributions to the Overall CPI

Annual Change

Table 3 shows the contribution of each 2-digit COICOP¹ division to the overall change in the CPI. A detailed breakdown of the individual components of each of the 12 COICOP divisions is presented in Tables 4 to 15.

The divisions which caused the largest upward contribution to the CPI in the year were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+4.25%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.35%), Restaurants & Hotels (+1.22%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+0.61%).

The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the year were Education (-0.12%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.04%).

The main factors contributing to the annual change were as follows:

• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels rose mainly due to an increase in the cost of electricity, gas, liquid fuels (home heating oil), solid fuels, higher rents and mortgage interest repayments.
• Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased due to higher prices across a range of products such as meat, milk, cheese & eggs, bread & cereals and vegetables.
• Restaurants & Hotels rose primarily due to higher prices for alcoholic drinks and food consumed in licensed premises, restaurants, cafes etc. and an increase in the cost of hotel accommodation.
• Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco increased due to higher prices for alcoholic beverages sold in supermarkets and off licences and an increase in the cost of tobacco products.
• Education fell mainly due to a reduction in costs associated with participating in third level education.
• Miscellaneous Goods & Services decreased primarily due to a reduction in prices for motor insurance premiums, health insurance premiums and jewellery. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in prices for articles & products for personal care, hairdressing salons and house insurance premiums.

¹_{Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose Adapted to the Needs of Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (2000).}

 

Monthly Change

The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the month were Transport (-0.35%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (-0.09%). The divisions which caused the largest upward contribution to the CPI in the month were Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+0.12%) and Restaurants & Hotels (+0.10%).

The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:

• Transport fell primarily due to lower prices for diesel and petrol. This decrease was partially offset by higher prices for airfares and services in respect of personal transport equipment.
• Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels decreased due to lower prices for liquid fuels (home heating oil). This decrease was partially offset by an increase in the cost of rents, mortgage interest repayments and electricity.
• Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased due to higher prices across a range of products such as meat, fruit and mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit & vegetable juices.  
• Restaurants & Hotels rose due to higher prices for alcoholic drinks and food consumed in licensed premises, restaurants, cafes etc. This increase was partially offset by a reduction in the cost of hotel accommodation.

CPI sub-indices

Tables 4 to 15 details all COICOP¹ sub-indices of the CPI.

Table 2 and table 17 details selected consumer price index sub-indices. The sub index for Services rose by 8.3% in the year to December, while Goods increased by 8.0%. Services, excluding mortgage interest repayments, increased by 7.7% in the year since December 2021.

The CPI excluding tobacco decreased by 0.2% in the month of December and rose by 8.3% in the year. The CPI excluding mortgage interest fell by 0.3% in the month and increased by 7.8% in the year.

Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices

Prices on average, as measured by the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), increased by 8.2% compared with December 2021.

Table 19 details the COICOP sub-indices for the HICP. The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+27.8%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+11.9%), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+10.7%) and Restaurants & Hotels (+8.1%). There was a decrease in Education (-7.2%).

The HICP decreased by 0.3% in the month. This compares to an increase of 0.5% recorded in December 2021.

The most significant monthly price changes were decreases in Transport (-2.8%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (-1.0%). There were increases in Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.4%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.1%).

National Average Price

National Average Prices for selected goods and services for December 2022 are detailed in Table 20.

Looking at the National Average Prices of some staple items:

• The national average price for bread (large (800g) white sliced pan) was up 26 cents in the year to December 2022, while the same size brown sliced pan was also up 26 cents in the year.
• Spaghetti per 500g increased by 25 cents in the year while the average price for 2.5kg of potatoes was up 4 cents.
• Full fat milk per 2 litres increased by 57 cents in the year while the average price of Irish cheddar per kg rose by €1.51 and butter per lb rose by 71 cents.
• The national average price of a take-home 50cl can of lager at €2.16 was up 34 cents on average from December 2021 while a take-home 50cl can of cider at €2.47 was up 29 cents.
• In December 2022, the national average price of a pint of stout in licensed premises was €5.20, up 26 cents a pint in the year, while a pint of lager was €5.73, up 42 cents compared with December 2021.