In July, consumer prices in the Czech Republic rose by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous month. The inflation rate stands at 2.7 per cent year-on-year – a slight decline compared with June. Price increases were especially apparent in leisure activities, rents and food. This is according to recent data from the Czech Statistical Office.
Consumer prices in the Czech Republic increased by 0.5 per cent in July compared with the previous month. This was mainly driven by price rises in leisure and culture, which saw an increase of 22.9 per cent in holiday travel prices.
Rents also continued to rise: rents for flats increased by 0.6 per cent, while costs for heating and hot water rose by 0.5 per cent. In the transport sector, higher prices for fuels and oils pushed the price increase up by 1.7 per cent. Furthermore, prices for catering and accommodation services rose by 0.4 and 0.6 per cent respectively. Among foodstuffs, prices for long-life low-fat milk rose by 10.7 per cent and for soft drinks by 0.9 per cent.
On the other hand, falling prices for fruit (down 3.3 per cent), vegetables (down 2.7 per cent, including potatoes with a drop of 24.4 per cent), eggs (down 6.7 per cent), butter (down 3.6 per cent), as well as chocolate and chocolate products (down 2.7 per cent) provided some slight relief to the overall price development.
Overall, prices for goods fell by 0.2 per cent, while prices for services increased by 1.4 per cent.
Annual price development: Inflation rate slightly declining
Year-on-year, consumer prices in July climbed by 2.7 per cent – 0.2 percentage points less than in June. The slower price growth is mainly due to a weaker increase in prices for food and soft drinks.
For example, prices for poultry meat were 6.6 per cent above last year’s level in July, after rising by 13.9 per cent in June. Eggs became 30.3 per cent more expensive than a year earlier (June: 40.4 per cent), butter by 15.3 per cent (June: 24.7 per cent), and chocolate and chocolate products by 14.1 per cent (June: 26.3 per cent).
The strongest influence on inflation remained with food and soft drinks. Here, prices for long-life low-fat milk rose by 30.6 per cent, coffee by 29.6 per cent and cocoa by 29.4 per cent.
In the housing sector, alongside costs for owner-occupied housing, rents rose by 5.6 per cent, drinking water by 4.2 per cent, sewage by 3.7 per cent, as well as heating and hot water by 4.1 per cent. Prices for electricity and natural gas, however, fell by 4.0 and 7.9 per cent respectively.
For alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, prices for spirits rose by 3.6 per cent, wine by 0.5 per cent, and tobacco by 7.2 per cent, while beer prices slightly fell by 0.9 per cent.
The leisure and culture sector also saw a price increase, particularly for cultural and leisure services (+5.7 per cent) and holiday packages (+5.0 per cent). Prices for catering and accommodation services were 4.5 and 6.8 per cent higher year-on-year respectively.
Harmonised with EU comparison: Prices in the Czech Republic in the European mid-range
According to preliminary calculations, the harmonised consumer price index (HICP) in the Czech Republic rose by 0.4 per cent in July compared with June and by 2.5 per cent year-on-year (June: 2.8 per cent).
For comparison: annual inflation in the euro area was 2.0 per cent in July, 1.8 per cent in Germany and 4.5 per cent in Slovakia. The highest inflation rates were recorded in Estonia at 5.6 per cent, the lowest in Cyprus at 0.1 per cent.
