Year-on-year, prices of restaurants and hotels rose by 0.2 percent easing from a 0.5 percent growth in November; and cost of recreation and culture grew at a slower 0.2 percent compared to a 0.8 percent increase in the previous month. Cost of food was flat following nine consecutive months of growth while transport prices fell by 0.1 percent after increasing by 0.4 percent in November.
Additional upward pressure came from: Communication (+4.9 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+4.3 percent); miscellaneous goods and services (+1.3 percent); and education (+0.9 percent). By contrast, cost of clothing and footwear (-2.3 percent) continued to fall.
The annual core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food products components, went down to 0.5 percent from 1 percent in November.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.3 percent, after falling 0.2 percent last month, as prices of clothing and footwear dropped 2.8 percent.
The harmonized consumer price index increased by 0.5 percent year-on-year.