Year-on-year, prices rose at a softer pace for: food and non-alcoholic beverages (0.5 percent vs 1.5 percent in January); transport (1.0 percent vs 3.2 percent); miscellaneous goods and services (1.0 percent vs 1.2 percent); and restaurants and hotels (2.4 percent vs 2.5 percent). Meanwhile, housing and utilities inflation picked up to 1.7 percent from 1.5 percent in January. On the other hand, downward pressure came from: clothing and footwear (-2.4 percent vs -4.7 percent); and recreation and culture (-0.1 percent vs -0.2 percent).
Annual core inflation rate, which excludes energy and unprocessed food products, eased to 0.6 percent in February from 0.9 percent in the previous month.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices declined by 0.7 percent in February after a 1 percent drop in January. The decrease was led by a sharp fall in prices of clothing and footwear (-4.5 percent).
The harmonized consumer price index increased by 0.7 percent year-on-year and fell by 0.6 percent from the previous month.