Bulgaria annual CPI records 0.9% inflation in September
Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) recorded 0.9 per cent inflation in September, falling from 1.2 per cent in August, data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on October 14 showed.
This was the lowest year-on-year increase in consumer prices since December 2016, when the figure was 0.1 per cent.
In September, the CPI fell by 0.4 per cent, making it the fifth time that the monthly CPI figure showed deflation during the previous 12 months, a period that also saw six months of inflation and one month with zero growth.
NSI noted that the Covid-19 pandemic created some difficulties in collecting statistical data, but said that it affected only two per cent of the overall CPI basket, same as in the previous three months.
Food prices were 0.4 per cent higher compared to August, while non-food prices fell by 0.1 per cent and services prices were 2.5 per cent lower. Compared to September 2019, food prices were 4.2 per cent higher, with non-food prices falling by 2.4 per cent, while services prices were up by 0.5 per cent.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, was 1.2 per cent lower on a monthly basis, while the annual harmonised CPI inflation in September was 0.6 per cent.
Food and beverage prices were four per cent higher, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and housing increased by 0.8 per cent and transportation costs were 6.8 per cent lower compared to a year earlier. The three categories account for about 48.2 per cent of the harmonised CPI basket.
(Illustration: svilen001/sxc.hu)
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