In September the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices increased to 110.98 from
110.94 in August, according to estimates published by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday.

In September 2008, there was a marginal increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices over the previous month. This was primarily caused by an increase of 8.0% in the Clothing and Footwear Index, mainly due to the introduction of the winter stock in the market. The Food and Non-alcoholic Beverages Index went up by 2.6%, mainly on account of higher prices of fish, vegetables and fruit.

Upturns in the prices of pharmaceutical products brought about an increase of 0.5% in the Health Index. The Furniture, Household Equipment & Routine Maintenance of the House Index went up by 0.1% due to higher prices of household appliances.

The Restaurants and Hotels Index went down by 2.7% on account of seasonal price reductions in accommodation services. A decrease of 1.5% was registered in the Transport Index, mainly due to lower air fares. A decrease of 0.2% was recorded in the Miscellaneous Goods and Services Index, mainly due to lower prices of luggage and other travel accessories.

In September, the twelve-month moving average rate of inflation stood at 4.0%,
whereas the annual rate of inflation stood at 4.9%.