Year-on-year, cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 0.2 percent after showing no growth in the previous month and prices of clothing and footwear went up by 0.2 percent compared to a 2.3 percent drop in December.
Additional upward pressure came from: Communication (+5.3 percent); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+4.4 percent); miscellaneous goods and services (+1.6 percent); recreation and culture (+1 percent); education (+0.9 percent); furnishing and household equipment (+0.8 percent); restaurants and hotels (+0.6 percent). By contrast, cost of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels dropped slightly by 0.1 percent while prices of transportation and health showed no growth.
The annual core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food products components, was rose to 1 percent compared to 0.5 percent in December.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 1 percent, after falling 0.3 percent last month, as prices of clothing and footwear declined sharply by 16.7 percent.
The harmonized consumer price index increased by 0.7 percent year-on-year compared to a 0.3 percent growth in the previous month.