Cost of living up 2.3 percent year-on-year in July

In July, compared with July last year, the overall cost of living in the country rose by 2.3 percent, the State Statistical Office calculated. Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.1 percent, while the largest annual rise was recorded in the category Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics at 9.5 percent.

Other notable yearly increases were seen in Recreation and sport services (5.7 percent) and Restaurants and accommodation services (4.4 percent). No expenditure category registered a decline over the year; the smallest rise was 1.1 percent in Transport.

Despite the annual increases, monthly data indicate some easing of inflation: July compared with June showed a 0.1 percent increase. In that month food costs fell by 1.1 percent, while the largest monthly jump was in Transport at 4.4 percent. These figures suggest that higher petrol and diesel prices did not broadly feed through to other prices in July.

Retail, agricultural goods and services

The State Statistical Office uses a special methodology that tracks the most commonly used goods and services to calculate the cost-of-living measures. Retail prices for goods and services rose by 1.8 percent over the year.

Among agricultural products there was a year-on-year price decline of 4.0 percent, while food products overall fell by 0.2 percent for the year. The biggest year-on-year increase was in Non-food products and tobacco, which rose by 4.6 percent.

On a monthly basis total prices went up by 1.3 percent. Monthly decreases were recorded for agricultural products (3.1 percent), food products (1.1 percent) and non-food products (0.7 percent). The only category showing monthly growth was Services, up 4.2 percent.

At the same time, global food prices climbed in July to their highest level in more than three years, driven by adverse weather and increased tensions in the Gulf and the Black Sea region, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported. The FAO's chief economist told Reuters that "the world faces another wave of food inflation, as the wars in Iran and Ukraine, together with El Niño, create a perfect storm of higher costs and lower crop yields." The United Nations also warned that, despite falling levels of hunger overall, more than 645 million people still lack adequate food.

Photo: Sloboden pechat / Dragan Mitreski