On the other hand, prices fell for: furnishings, household equipment & routine household maintenance (-3.6 percent from -3.2 percent), due to a reduced cost of furniture & furnishings, non-durable household goods and household textiles;
communication (-3.3 percent from -2.9 percent), on the back of lower cost of telephone & telefax equipment;
clothing & footwear (-1.1 percent from -1.7 percent); and
miscellaneous goods & services (-1.0 percent, the same as in March), mainly due to lower motor insurance premiums and a reduction in prices for appliances, articles & products for personal care and other personal effects. This reduction was partially offset by higher prices for hairdressing salons & personal grooming establishments.
Annual core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, went up to 1.4 percent in April from 0.9 percent in March.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.4 percent, after a 0.8 percent gain in the prior month. The largest upward contribution to the CPI in the month were transport (+0.19%), restaurants & hotels (+0.09%) and housing& utilities (+0.09%) while the division which caused the largest downward contribution in the month was communication (-0.02%).
The harmonised index of consumer prices rose by 1.7 percent from the previous year; and increased by 0.4 percent from the previous month.