Bulgaria annual CPI records 2.5% inflation in May
Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.5 per cent in May, up from two per cent inflation recorded a month earlier, data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on June 15 showed.
Monthly inflation in May was 0.1 per cent, the ninth time that the monthly CPI figure showed an increase over the previous 12 months, which also saw deflation recorded two times and one month of zero growth.
Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the inflation indicator, it limited NSI’s ability to collect the data, with the statistics body saying that it had to extrapolate about one per cent of the total consumer price index, compared to two per cent a month earlier.
Food prices in May were 0.6 per cent higher compared to the previous month and non-food prices rose by 0.1 per cent, while services prices were 0.3 per cent down. Compared to May 2020, food prices were 0.9 per cent higher, while non-food prices rose by 2.7 per cent and services prices rose by 3.7 per cent.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, recorded 0.1 per cent inflation in May, while the annual harmonised CPI inflation was 2.3 per cent.
Food and beverage prices were 0.9 per cent higher, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and housing increased by 3.1 per cent and transportation costs were 8.6 per cent higher compared to May 2020. The three categories account for about 48.8 per cent of the harmonised CPI basket.
(Illustration: svilen001/sxc.hu)
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