Bulgaria annual inflation drops to 17.6% in October
Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) recorded 17.6 per cent inflation in October 2022, down from 18.7 per cent a month earlier, data released by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) on November 15 showed.
The drop was the first after 21 months of uninterrupted rise in the annual figure, which pushed the annual CPI to 18.7 per cent in September, the highest it has been since May 1998, when the annual inflation figure was 18.8 per cent.
At the time, Bulgaria had just finished emerging from the 1996/97 economic crisis. The September 2022 figure also exceeds the 15.3 per cent annual inflation peak recorded in June 2008, during the global financial crisis.
Monthly inflation in October was 0.9 per cent.
Food prices in October were up 2.2 per cent compared to the previous month, while non-food prices rose by 1.3 per cent and services prices fell by 1.6 per cent.
Compared to October 2021, food prices were 25.7 per cent higher, while non-food and services prices rose by 15.4 per cent and 10.1 per cent, respectively.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, rose by 0.6 per cent on a monthly basis in October, while the annual harmonised CPI inflation was 14.8 per cent, down from 15.6 per cent a month earlier.
Food and beverage prices were 26.4 per cent higher, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and housing increased by 22.5 per cent and transportation costs were 14.3 per cent higher compared to October 2021. The three categories account for about 48.5 per cent of the harmonised CPI basket.
(Consumer price index changes since October 2021. Bars illustrate the annual CPI inflation and lines show the monthly CPI inflation. Graphic: NSI)
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