The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 8.2% between September 2021 and September 2022, down from an annual increase of 8.7% in the 12 months to August 2022.
This is the twelfth straight month where the annual increase for the CPI has been at least 5.0%.
The divisions with the largest increases in the year to September were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+20.0%) and Transport (+11.3%).
Education (-0.7%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with September 2021.
Consumer prices remained unchanged in the month between August 2022 and September 2022.
The divisions with the largest increases in the month were Clothing & Footwear (+4.0%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.4%) while the divisions with the largest decreases in the month were Transport (-3.6%) and Restaurants & Hotels (-0.3%).
This is an audio file with a 36-second quote from CSO statistician with the Prices Division, Anthony Dawson, about the September 2022 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 | ||||
| May 2022 | 0.9 | 7.8 | 1.1 | 8.3 | |||
| Jun 2022 | 1.3 | 9.1 | 1.3 | 9.6 | |||
| Jul 2022 | 0.4 | 9.1 | 0.4 | 9.6 | |||
| Aug 2022 | 0.2 | 8.7 | 0.2 | 9.0 | |||
| Sep 2022 | 0.0 | 8.2 | 0.0 | 8.6 | |||
| X-axis label | CPI | HICP |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | 3.7 | 3.8 |
| Oct 2021 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| Nov 2021 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
| Dec 2021 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| 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 |
Prices on average, as measured by the CPI, were 8.2% higher in September 2022 compared with September 2021.
The most notable changes in the year were increases in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+20.0%), Transport (+11.3%), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+9.9%) and Restaurants & Hotels (+7.6%). There were decreases in Education (-0.7%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%).
Consumer Prices in September, as measured by the CPI, remained unchanged in the month. During September of last year, prices rose by 0.5% in the month. The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Clothing & Footwear (+4.0%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.4%). There were decreases in Transport (-3.6%) and Restaurants & Hotels (-0.3%).
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 (+3.24%), Transport (+1.52%), Restaurants & Hotels (+1.17%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.15%).
The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the year were Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.05%) and Education (-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 upward contribution to the CPI in the month were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+0.24%) and Clothing & Footwear (+0.17%). The divisions which caused the largest downward contribution to the CPI in the month were Transport (-0.51%) and Restaurants & Hotels (-0.05%).
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 detail selected consumer price index sub-indices. The sub index for Services rose by 6.8% in the year to September, while Goods increased by 10.0%. Services, excluding mortgage interest repayments, increased by 6.8% in the year since September 2021.
The CPI excluding tobacco remained unchanged in the month of September and rose by 8.2% in the year. The CPI excluding mortgage interest decreased by 0.1% in the month and increased by 8.2% in the year.
Prices on average, as measured by the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), increased by 8.6% compared with September 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 (+23.5%), Transport (+11.6%), Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+9.8%) and Restaurants & Hotels (+7.5%). There was a decrease in Education (-0.8%).
The HICP remained unchanged in the month. This compares to an increase of 0.4% recorded in September of last year.
The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Clothing & Footwear (+4.0%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.1%). There were decreases in Transport (-3.5%) and Restaurants & Hotels (-0.4%).
National Average Prices for selected goods and services for September 2022 are detailed in Table 20.
Looking at the National Average Prices of some staple items:
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (13 October 2022) published the Consumer Price Index September 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 September 2022 increased by 8.2% on average compared with September 2021. This follows an increase of 8.7% in the year to August 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.
The most significant increases in the year were seen in Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels which was up 20.0% and Transport, which was up 11.3%. Increased energy costs are reflected in the yearly increase of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels with electricity up 36.2%, gas up 53.1%, liquid fuels (home heating oil) up 83.8% and solid fuels up 32.5% in the year. The annual change in Transport costs reflects a rise in the cost of diesel (+32.5%), petrol (+15.1%), purchase of motor cars (+11.2%) and airfares (+18.8%) compared with September 2021.
Education (-0.7%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-0.4%) were the only divisions to show a decrease when compared with September 2021.
Consumer prices in September remained unchanged in the month. During September of last year, prices rose by 0.5% in the month. The most significant monthly price changes were increases in Clothing & Footwear (+4.0%) and Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+1.4%). Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels rose mainly due to an increase in the cost of liquid fuels (home heating oil), mortgage interest repayments and private rents.
There was a decrease in Transport (-3.6%) in the month from August 2022, mainly due to lower prices for airfares, petrol, services in respect of personal transport equipment and passenger transport by bus & coach. This decrease was partially offset by an increase in the cost of motor cars.
It should be noted that these figures are relating to the Consumer Price Index. The flash estimate published on 30 September 2022 was related to the EU Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)."
The National Average Prices for September are also published today. The National Average Prices are compiled together with the CPI. Commenting on the National Average Prices, Anthony Dawson said: “The CSO has also published the National Average Price for a number of items for September 2022. There were price increases in an 800g loaf of white sliced pan (+26c), 2 litres of full fat milk (+41c) and a pound of butter (+67c) compared with September 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.