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Consumer Price Index December 2022

Consumer prices rose by 8.2% over the 12 months to December 2022

Online ISSN: 2009-5767
CSO statistical publication, , 11am
Notice of Change in Methodology for International Package Holidays

From January 2023, there will be a change to the methodology for International Package Holidays (COICOP 09.6.0.2). The January 2023 release (16 February 2023) will be accompanied by a methodological document further outlining the details of this change.

Key Findings

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 8.2% between December 2021 and December 2022, down from an annual increase of 8.9% in the 12 months to November 2022.

  • This is the fifteenth straight month where the annual increase in the CPI has been at least 5.0%.

  • The divisions with the largest increases in the year to December were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+25.9%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+11.7%).

  • Education (-7.1%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with December 2021. 

  • Consumer prices fell by 0.2% in the month between November 2022 and December 2022.

  • The divisions with the largest decreases in the month were Transport (-2.6%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (-0.7%).

  • The divisions with the largest increases in the month were Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.3%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.0%).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (17 January 2023) published the Consumer Price Index December 2022.

Commenting on annual changes shown in the release, Anthony Dawson, Statistician in the Prices Division said: “The latest publication for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices for consumer goods and services in December 2022 increased by 8.2% on average compared with December 2021, down from 8.9% in the 12 months to November 2022. Prices have been rising on an annual basis since April 2021, with annual inflation of 5.0% or more recorded in each month since October 2021.

Annual Changes

The most significant increases in the year were seen in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels which was up 25.9% and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which rose by 11.7%. Growth in energy costs was reflected in the yearly increase of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels with electricity up 62.7%, gas rose by 86.5%, liquid fuels (home heating oil) up 39.9% and solid fuels up 46.9% in the year. The annual change in Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages costs reflects a rise in prices across a range of products such as fresh whole milk (+33.3%), sugar (+30.0%), eggs (+23.5%), butter (+23.1%) and bread (+16.3%) compared with December 2021.

Education (-7.1%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with December 2021.

Monthly Changes

Consumer prices in December fell 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%). Transport fell due to lower prices for diesel and petrol.

Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (+1.3%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.0%) showed an increase when compared with November 2022.

It should be noted that these figures relate to the CPI. The flash estimate published on 06 January 2023 was related to the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)."

The National Average Prices for selected goods and services for December are also published today. The National Average Prices are compiled together with the CPI. Commenting on the National Average Prices, Anthony Dawson said: “The National Average Price of a number of items rose in December 2022. There were price increases for an 800g loaf of white/brown sliced pan (+26c), 2 litres of full fat milk (+57c), and a pound of butter (+71c) when compared with December 2021.” The comprehensive list of items included in the National Average Prices and their monthly prices are available at: https://data.cso.ie/table/CPM12.

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.

CPI and HICP
 CPI HICP
 % monthly change % annual change % monthly change % annual change
Aug 20220.2 8.7 0.2 9.0
Sep 20220.0 8.2 0.0 8.6
Oct 20221.6 9.2 1.5 9.4
Nov 20220.3 8.9 0.2 9.0
Dec 2022-0.2 8.2 -0.3 8.2
X-axis labelCPIHICP
Dec 20215.55.7
Jan 202255
Feb 20225.65.7
Mar 20226.76.9
Apr 202277.3
May 20227.88.3
Jun 20229.19.6
Jul 20229.19.6
Aug 20228.79
Sep 20228.28.6
Oct 20229.29.4
Nov 20228.99
Dec 20228.28.2

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.

Table A - Annual Average Percentage Changes by COICOP Division

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%).

Table 1 - Consumer Price Index (All Items)

Table 2 - Consumer Price COICOP Division Indices - December 2022

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.

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

 

Figure 2: Contribution of CPI COICOP Divisions to the Overall CPI Annual Percentage Change - December 2022
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.
Table 3 - Contributions to the change in the All Items CPI - December 2022

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.

Table 4 - COICOP Division 01 Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages - December 2022

Table 5 - COICOP Division 02 Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco - December 2022

Table 6 - COICOP Division 03 Clothing and Footwear - December 2022

Table 7 - COICOP Division 04 Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels - December 2022

Table 8 - COICOP Division 05 Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance - December 2022

Table 9 - COICOP Division 06 Health - December 2022

Table 10 - COICOP Division 07 Transport - December 2022

Table 11 - COICOP Division 08 Communications - December 2022

Table 12 - COICOP Division 09 Recreation and Culture - December 2022

Table 13 - COICOP Division 10 Education - December 2022

Table 14 - COICOP Division 11 Restaurants and Hotels - December 2022

Table 15 - COICOP Division 12 Miscellaneous Goods and Services - December 2022

Table 16 - Consumer Price Index Goods and Services by COICOP Division - December 2022

Table 17 - Consumer Price Index Subindices - December 2022

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%).

Table 18 - EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) - Ireland

Table 19 - EU Harmonised Consumer Price COICOP Division Indices - December 2022 Ireland

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.

National Average Price

National Average Prices for selected goods and services for December 2022 are detailed below

These prices are compared to the same product and service in December 2021. A full list of National Average Prices is detailed in Table 20.
Increase
26c
now €1.66
White Sliced Pan (800g)
Increase
25c
now €1.36
Spaghetti (500g)
Increase
4c
now €3.38
Bag of Potatoes (2.5kg)
Increase
57c
now €2.26
Milk - Full Fat (2L)
Increase
€1.51
now €10.49
Irish Cheddar Cheese (kg)
Increase
71c
now €3.84
Butter (lb/454g)
Table 20 - National Average Prices

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