April 2013 Consumer Prices: Edging Up

Inflation continued to edge up in April, this time almost entirely due to food prices (log annual and monthly changes; 2000=100):

On the month however, price increases moderated quite a bit – still positive, but much slower than in January-February. The core index shows prices of most other goods and services either decreasing or at worst stagnant. The big mover was health costs, which rose 2.1% in log annual terms, but transport costs actually fell (slightly).

Food was the main culprit for April (log annual and monthly changes; 2000=100):

…but even that didn’t amount to much. The annual increase in the main index could be mainly put down to the base effect, as price increases in the first half of last year had been slower than usual, which magnifies any increase this year.

On the whole, this new data just reinforces the notion that inflation will be well below expectations this year.

Technical Notes:

April 2013 Consumer Price Index report from the Department of Statistics