Year-on-year, cost rose faster for housing (5.3 percent compared to 4.3 percent in August), mostly due to higher prices of electricity; restaurants & hotels (1.9 percent compared to 1.8 percent); clothing & footwear (1.0 percent compared to 0.9 percent); health (0.1 percent compared to a flat reading) and education (1.0 percent compared to 0.8 percent). Also, cost of recreation & culture fell at a softer pace (-1.0 percent compared to -1.1 percent).
On the other hand, prices eased for food & non-alcoholic beverages (1.7 percent compared to 2.0 percent), namely fruits and legumes and vegetables; transport (5.0 percent compared to 5.2 percent) and furnishings (0.2 percent compared to 0.3 percent). Additionally, inflation was steady for miscellaneous goods & services (at 1.0 percent, the same as in August) and communications (at 2.6 percent).
Annual core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, remained unchanged at 0.8 percent in September, the same as in the prior month.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.2 percent from a 0.1 percent rise in August, matching the preliminary estimate and in line with market expectations. Positive contributions came mainly from clothing & footwear (5.3 percent); housing (1.1 percent) and transport (0.4 percent). In contrast, negative contribution came mostly from recreation & culture (-3.1p percent).
The harmonized index of consumer prices advanced 2.3 percent year-on-year, following a 2.2 percent increase in August and rose 0.2 percent from the previous month.