Slovenia's annual inflation rate plunged to 1.4% in September from 2.2% in August, as prices increased 0.3% at the monthly level largely due to the end of seasonal footwear and clothing sales, the Statistics Office said Monday.
Compared to September 2012, prices increased the most in the groups alcoholic beverages and tobacco (7.1%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.5%), housing (2.1%) and the hospitality industry (2%).
The annual inflation rate was propped up by prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.6 p.p.), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.4 p.p.) and housing (0.3 p.p.), which includes utilities.
Lower prices in the group furnishing, household equipment and maintenance and in the group transport pushed the inflation rate down by 0.1 p.p. each.
At the monthly level, the arrival of autumn collections pushed up the prices of clothing and footwear by almost 14% and contributed 0.9 p.p. to the monthly inflation rate.
On the other hand, in the group recreation and culture, prices of package holidays dropped by 14.8%, which pushed the inflation rate down by 0.6 p.p.
The harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU gauge, was at 1.5% at the annual level, down 0.7 percentage points over the previous month.
Source: TheSloveniaTimes
