The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 7.8% between January 2022 and January 2023, down from an annual increase of 8.2% in the 12 months to December 2022.
This is the sixteenth 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 January were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+26.4%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+12.8%).
Education (-7.2%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.7%) were the divisions with the largest decreases when compared with January 2022.
Consumer prices fell by 0.8% in the month between December 2022 and January 2023.
The divisions with the largest decreases in the month were Clothing & Footwear (-6.4%) and Transport (-2.9%).
The divisions with the largest increases in the month were Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+2.5%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+0.9%).
This is an audio file with a 40-second quote from CSO statistician with the Prices Division, Anthony Dawson, about the January 2023 Consumer Price Index release.
Media outlets have permission to use the clip as long as they credit the CSO.
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 | ||||
| Sep 2022 | 0.0 | 8.2 | 0.0 | 8.6 | |||
| Oct 2022 | 1.6 | 9.2 | 1.5 | 9.4 | |||
| Nov 2022 | 0.3 | 8.9 | 0.2 | 9.0 | |||
| Dec 2022 | -0.2 | 8.2 | -0.3 | 8.2 | |||
| Jan 2023 | -0.8 | 7.8 | -1.0 | 7.5 | |||
| X-axis label | CPI | HICP |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | 5 | 5 |
| Feb 2022 | 5.6 | 5.7 |
| Mar 2022 | 6.7 | 6.9 |
| Apr 2022 | 7 | 7.3 |
| May 2022 | 7.8 | 8.3 |
| Jun 2022 | 9.1 | 9.6 |
| Jul 2022 | 9.1 | 9.6 |
| Aug 2022 | 8.7 | 9 |
| Sep 2022 | 8.2 | 8.6 |
| Oct 2022 | 9.2 | 9.4 |
| Nov 2022 | 8.9 | 9 |
| Dec 2022 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Jan 2023 | 7.8 | 7.5 |
Prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 7.8% higher in January 2023 compared with January 2022.
The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+26.4%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+12.8%), Restaurants & Hotels (+7.3%) and Clothing & Footwear (+5.0%). There were decreases in Education (-7.2%), Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.7%) and Recreation & Culture (-0.2%).
Consumer Prices in January, as measured by the CPI, decreased by 0.8% in the month. During January of last year, prices fell by 0.4% in the month. The most significant monthly price changes were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (-6.4%) and Transport (-2.9%). There were increases in Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+2.5%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+0.9%).
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 (+4.36%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.45%), Restaurants & Hotels (+1.10%) and Transport (+0.42%).
The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the year were Education (-0.13%), Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.09%) and Recreation & Culture (-0.01%).
The main factors contributing to the annual change were as follows:
1Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose Adapted to the Needs of Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (2000).
The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the month were Transport (-0.38%) and Clothing & Footwear (-0.32%). The divisions which caused the largest upward contribution to the CPI in the month were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+0.17%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+0.14%).
The main factors contributing to the monthly change were as follows:
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 8.1% in the year to January, while Goods increased by 7.4%. Services, excluding mortgage interest repayments, increased by 7.0% in the year since January 2022.
The CPI excluding tobacco decreased by 0.8% in the month of January and rose by 7.8% in the year. The CPI excluding mortgage interest fell by 1.0% in the month and increased by 7.2% in the year.
Prices on average, as measured by the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), increased by 7.5% compared with January 2022.
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 (+27.2%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+12.8%), Restaurants & Hotels (+7.2%) and Clothing & Footwear (+4.9%). There were decreases in Education (-7.2%) and Recreation & Culture (-0.2%).
The HICP decreased by 1.0% in the month. This compares to a decrease of 0.4% recorded in January of last year.
The most significant monthly price changes were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (-6.5%) and Transport (-2.9%). There were increases in Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+2.5%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+0.8%).
National Average Prices for selected goods and services for January 2023 are detailed in Table 20.
Looking at the National Average Prices of some staple items:
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (16 February 2023) published the Consumer Price Index (CPI) January 2023.
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 January 2023 increased by 7.8% on average when compared with January 2022. This was down from 8.2% in the 12 months to December 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. However, this is the third straight month where the annual rate of inflation has fallen.
Annual Changes
The most significant increases in the year were seen in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels which was up 26.4% and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages, which rose by 12.8%. Increased energy costs are reflected in the yearly growth of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels, particularly in electricity (+62.7%), gas (+86.3%), liquid fuels (home heating oil) (+35.5%), and solid fuels (+44.8%). The annual change in Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages costs reflects a rise in prices across a range of products such as fresh whole milk (+30.6%), sugar (+26.0%), butter (+22.9%), eggs (+22.3%), and poultry (+19.5%) compared with January 2022.
Education (-7.2%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.7%) were the divisions to show the largest decreases when compared with January 2022.
Monthly Changes
Consumer prices in January fell by 0.8% in the month. During January of last year, prices fell by 0.4% in the month. The most significant monthly price changes were decreases in Clothing & Footwear (-6.4%) and Transport (-2.9%). Transport decreased primarily due to lower prices for airfares.
Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+2.5%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+0.9%) were the divisions to show the largest increases when compared with December 2022.
It should be noted that these figures relate to the CPI. The flash estimate published on 31 January 2023 was related to the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)."
The National Average Prices for selected goods and services for January 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 January 2023. There were price increases for an 800g loaf of white sliced pan (+27c), an 800g loaf of brown sliced pan (+26c), 2 litres of full fat milk (+53c), and a pound of butter (+73c) when compared with January 2022.” The comprehensive list of items included in the National Average Prices and their monthly prices are available at: https://data.cso.ie/table/CPM12.