Inflation up to 4.6 percent in September, highest figure in past 10 years

Consumer prices grew 4.6 percent in September, which is the highest figure seen since November 2011, i.e. in the past ten years. The Statistics Office reported on Thursday that the inflation was driven by higher prices of food (4.3 percent y-o-y), fuels and recently also school catering services following cuts in state financing of lunches at primary schools. All the 12 monitored segments posted a year-on-year price growth in September. The largest item in the structure of Slovak households' expenditures, housing and energy, grew by 2.6 percent in September, up from 2.2 percent seen in August. The sharp rise in the price of school catering services was a new item to have a significant impact on both the y-o-y and the month-on-month inflation. Higher fuel prices have been contributing to the overall y-o-y inflation since the spring, showing a growth of over 20 percent for the fifth consecutive month.