The general index for the month of January, expressed in base 100 in 2015, amounted to 103.40 points. The semi-annual average of the index linked to the 1.1.1948 base rose from 862.44 to 863.07 points.
For the third consecutive month, the trend for petroleum product prices was down. Compared to December, the derivatives of "black gold" fell by 2.3%. The switch to the pump is cheaper for motorists, compared to the previous month the prices were down by 4.0% for diesel and 1.5% for petrol. The price of heating oil fell by 6.7%, while that of city gas rose by 2.1%. Despite the declines of the last three months, the price of "black gold" in the index basket is 0.8% higher than in January 2018.
In January, some elements of electricity pricing were adjusted, resulting in an average increase of 4.2% in prices paid by consumers.
Prices are climbing for some food products such as fish and seafood, meat and vegetables. In total, food prices rebounded 0.8% in one month and 2.6% compared to January 2018.
On the services side, financial services (+ 2.4% compared with December 2018), as well as mobile telephony services (+ 1.2%) have a visible upward impact on the result for December.
The annual rate of inflation fell from 1.9% in December 2018 to 1.8% in January 2019. The annual rate of core inflation gained 0.1 percentage points and reached 1.8%. The next indexing will be triggered when the value of 873.94 is reached.