Alcohol & tobacco prices up over 6% according to CSO

Alcohol & tobacco saw 6.2% rise. pic nbcnews.com

IRELAND: Prices rose by 0.3% last month compared with November of last year according to consumer price index figures (CPI) released today.

The most noticeable increases from the figures released by the Central Statistics office (CSO) was an increase in alcohol and tobacco which showed a 6.2 per cent rise.


Education costs were 4.5 per cent higher than the same month last year, while
In the hospitality industry, restaurant and hotel prices were up 3.1 per cent. This increase was linked to the increase in the cost of alcohol.

Decreases
Clothing and footwear products showed a decrease with a fall of 4.6 per cent and furnishings and household equipment prices fell 4.2 per cent.

Also down on the same time last year were communication and transport costs. Communication costs were down 3.1 per cent, while transport costs fell 1.7 per cent, mainly due to a fall in fuel costs.

The figures also suggest that health costs are down 0.8 per cent.

Contributing factors
The CSO report indicated that education rose due to an increase in third level costs/fees, while alcohol and tobacco rose due to higher prices for alcohol sold in off-licences and supermarkets.

Restaurants and hotels increased due to the higher prices for the alcohol consumed on licensed premises.

Transport fell due to decreases in petrol and diesel prices and also motor car prices. Clothing and footwear fell due to sales in that category.

---