IRISH CONSUMER PRICES increased by an average of 7% in the 12 months to April — the fastest pace in almost 22 years — up from 6.7% in the year to March.

Consumer price inflation has now been rising at an annual pace of 5% or more since October 2021, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Economists at the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Central Bank of Ireland expect annual inflation to peak at between 8%  and 8.5% in the summer, before falling.

However, the CSO’s April Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that the rate of monthly inflation slowed significantly last month. Prices increased by an average of 0.9% in April compared with 1.9% in March.

Transport prices — the second-largest contributor to annual Irish inflation — have risen 17.1% in the year to April although prices at the pump began to slide last month.

Petrol prices, up almost 24% from last April, declined 6.4% in April. Diesel prices, up over 40% in 12 months, fell 2.8% in the month. 

This is broadly in line with global crude oil prices, which have fallen in recent weeks from the record highs seen in the immediate wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Housing, water, gas and electricity prices continue to make the largest contribution to annual inflation, the CSO said, making up over 2.7% of the total.

Against the backdrop of soaring natural gas prices globally, the cost of goods in this category have increased by close to 19% in the year to the end of April, according to the CPI.

Natural gas prices have increased by 53.7% in the past 12 months and 20.6% between March and April amid the war in Ukraine, which has put significant upward pressure on prices.

About half of Ireland’s electricity supply is generated by natural gas, which has led to utility companies raising prices in recent months. As a consequence, electricity prices have risen 27.8% in the 12 months to the end of April and 7.5% last month alone.

While slightly lower than the Eurozone average of 7.5% last month, CSO statistician Colin Cotter said, the annual increase in prices to last month is “the largest observed in almost 22 years, when annual inflation also stood at 7.0% in November 2000″.

Commenting on the release he added, “National average prices for selected CPI goods and services for March 2022 were also made available today by the CSO and show that diesel at €1.95 per litre and petrol at €1.93 per litre were up by 61.3c per litre (+46.0%) and 50.4c per litre (+35.3%) respectively between March 2021 and March 2022.

“Looking at some staple items, the national average price for bread (large (800g) white sliced pan) was up 12.9c in the year to March 2022, while the same size brown sliced pan was up 22.2c in the year. Fresh salmon per kg decreased by 12.1c in the year while the average price for 2.5kg of potatoes decreased by 9.9c.”