WATER CHARGES HAVE been included in inflation calculations for the first time, pushing the rate up by 0.41% .
Overall though prices are down, mainly because of the low cost of fuel.
The Central Statistics Office says that the price of consumer goods were 0.6% lower than last year. The cost of transport fell by the largest amount, dropping by 6.6% compared to January 2014.
The CSO says that the Consumer Price Index is made up of good and services purchased by households for the purposes of consumption. As a result of that definition, water charges have been included.
Water charges are part of the ‘water supply and miscellaneous services’ section of the CPI. That section shows an annual increases of 74.8% because of the charges.
The contribution of water supply added 0.22% and sewage collection added 0.19% to the annual inflation rate, a combined impact of 0.41%
Apart from transport, other items that have seen falls over the last year include clothing, household items as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages.
The fall in transport costs is mainly due to lower petrol and diesel prices and the price of cars.
The cost of education was the biggest cost increase on last year, jumping by 4.9%.
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