Average inflation for the whole of 2022 reached 12.8 percent, the second-highest level in the history of modern Slovakia, behind only the average recorded in 1993, the Statistics Office has reported.
Last year's figure was influenced mainly by a rise in energy charges and a record increase in food and fuel prices. The office noted that inflation in Slovakia picked up significantly last year, as it stood only at 3.2 percent in 2021 and hadn't breached the 5-percent threshold since 2005. "Last year's average inflation thus surpassed the previous peak in 2000, when it reached 12 percent. Higher inflation was measured only in the first year of the independent Slovak Republic in 1993, when inflation exceeded 23 percent," said the office, adding that slightly different methodology was used to measure inflation in the nineties.
The high inflation was mainly due to rising prices for the two main household-expenditure categories: food and non-alcoholic beverages and housing with energy, which together account for 47 percent of household expenditures.
In the case of food, prices increased by 19.3 percent on average. The biggest impact on household spending was made by an overall increase of more than 18 percent in the prices of meat, one of more than 20 percent for milk, cheese and eggs, and a hike of around 21 percent for bread and cereals.
Housing and energy charges increased by 15.5 percent in yearly terms. This development was mainly influenced by an increase in energy prices at the beginning of the year, after adjustments to regulated prices for households.
Fuel prices had the third-biggest impact on average inflation last year, notching up record increases in the second quarter. Fuels were 26 percent more expensive on average for the whole of 2022. (TASR)
