ELSTAT: Inflation in Greece at 3.4% in October

Inflation “climbed” to 3.4% in October 2021, according to ELSTAT.

In particular, the comparison of the General CPI of October 2021 with the corresponding Index of October 2020 resulted in an increase of 3.4% compared to a decrease of 1.8% in the respective comparison of the year 2020 with 2019.

The General CPI in October 2021, compared to September 2021, showed an increase of 1.5% compared to an increase of 0.3% in the corresponding comparison of the previous year.

The average CPI of the twelve months November 2020 – October 2021, compared to the corresponding Index of the twelve months November 2019 – October 2020, did not change compared to a decrease of 0.8% in the respective comparison
of the twelve months November 2019 – October 2020 with the twelve months of November 2018 – October 2019.

Compared to last year

The increase of the General CPI by 3.4% in October 2021, compared to the corresponding Index of October 2020, came mainly from the changes in the following groups of goods and services:

1. From the increases of the indices by:

• 3.0% in the group Food and non-alcoholic beverages, due mainly to increase in prices of: bread, beef, lamb and goat, poultry, fresh fish, cheeses, olive oil, fresh vegetables, potatoes, coffee-cocoa-tea, sugar-chocolates-sweets-ice creams, other foods, mineral water-soft drinks-fruit juices. Part of this increase was offset by the decrease mainly οφ prices in: breakfast cereals, pork, fresh fruit, preserved or processed vegetables.

• 0.4% in the Clothing and footwear group, due to price increases in clothing and footwear.

• 11.7% in the Housing group, due to an increase mainly in the prices of: electricity, natural gas, heating oil.

• 0.8% in the group Durable goods-Household items and services, due mainly to price increases in: furniture and decorative items, household services. Part of this increase was offset by lower prices mainly on home appliances and repairs.

• 9.2% in the Transport group, due mainly to price increases in: fuels and lubricants, new cars, tickets for passenger transport by plane.

• 0.9% in the Education group, mainly due to the increase in the prices of secondary education tuition fees.

• 0.9% in the Hotels-Cafes-Restaurants group, due mainly to price increases in: restaurants-patisseries-cafes, hotels-motels-inns.

2. From the reductions of the indicators by:

• 2.5% in the Communications group, due mainly to a reduction in prices for telephone services.

• 0.4% in the group Leisure-Cultural activities, due mainly to reduction of prices in: sound and image processing equipment, durable leisure goods. Part of this decrease was offset mainly by the increase in prices in leisure-flowers-pets.

• 1.3% in the group Other goods and services, due mainly to the reduction of prices in: other types of personal care, vehicle insurance premiums.

Rise in prices compared to September

The increase of the General CPI by 1.5% in the month of October 2021, compared to the corresponding Index of September 2021, came mainly from changes in the following groups of goods and services:

1. From the increases of the indices by:

• 0.1% in the group Food and non-alcoholic beverages, due mainly to increase in prices of: bread, pasta, poultry, cold cuts, cheeses, olive oil, potatoes, pastries-jams-honey, coffee-cocoa-tea. Part of this increase was offset by falling prices mainly in: pork, fresh fish, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, vegetables
preserved or processed.

• 1.5% in the Clothing and footwear group, due to price increases in clothing and footwear.

• 7.8% in the Housing group, mainly due to price increases in: electricity, natural gas, heating oil.

• 0.4% in the group Durable goods-Household items and services, due to an increase mainly in household services.

• 2.4% in the Transport group, due mainly to price increases in: new cars, fuel and lubricants, airline passenger tickets.

• 0.2% in the group Hotels-Cafes-Restaurants, due mainly to the increase of prices in restaurants-confectioneries-cafes.

2. From the reduction of the index by:

• 0.6% in the group Other goods and services, due mainly to a reduction in prices for other types of personal care.

Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices at 2.8%

At the same time, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for October 2021, showed an increase of 2.8% compared to a decrease of 2.0% in the corresponding comparison of the year 2020 with 2019 compared to the corresponding Index of October 2020 .

The HICP in October 2021, compared to September 2021, showed an increase of 1.1% compared to an increase of 0.2% in the corresponding comparison of the previous year.

The average HICP for the twelve months November 2020 – October 2021, compared to the corresponding Index of the twelve months November 2019 – October 2020, showed a decrease of 0.5% compared to a decrease of 0.8% recorded during the corresponding comparison of the twelve months November 2019 – October 2020 with the twelve months of November 2018 – October 2019