The inflation rate slowed down to 5.8% in February 2020, from 5.9% the previous month and 6.1% in December, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Thursday.
This drop is mainly due to the continued slowing down in the pace of increase of food prices (3.7% against 4.4% last month and 5.8% the month before), the INS pointed out.
Food products
Food prices went up 3.7% year-on-year In February 2020.
This increase is explained by the rise in fruit prices by 12.8%, fish by 6.2%, cheese and eggs by 4.9% and meat by 4.6%.
The year-on-year drop in olive prices is 13.9%
Manufactured goods and services
Prices of manufactured goods rose by 7.6% on a year-on-year basis due to a 9.7% increase in prices of household cleaning products and a 7.7% growth in prices of building materials.
For services, prices went up 5.3% year-on-year due to an 8.8% rise in prices for health services and a 5.7% increase in rents.
Core inflation and administered product inflation
Core inflation (excluding food and energy) was 6.9%, down from 6.8% in January and 6.7% in December 2019.
Prices of free (non-administered) goods rose by 5.8% compared with 5.7% for administered prices. Free food products increased by 4.2% against 1.4% for administered products.
