Lower prices for nine categories of products slow inflation rate in Greece for third straight month in Dec. 2022

An official inflation rate of 7.2 percent in Greece for last month, December 2022, showed a lower rate for a third straight month, and the fifth out of the last six months where the figure has dropped, on an annual basis.

The inflation rate in Greece only increased in September 2022, compared to the previous month, when the annualized inflation rate reached 12 percent. The highest monthly inflation rate for 2022 was in June, at 12.1 percent.

The Greek statistics authority (EL.STAT), in comparing prices for November 2022 to December 2022, refers to nine basic groups of products and cited an easing in prices for the latter month.

An imitative by the government to mandate that major super market chains guarantee the lowest prices for specific basic goods on a weekly basis, along with lower heating oil demand and a subsidy on the latter, deflated inflation in the last month of 2022. Fuel prices also fell, with air travel tickets falling by 12.2 percent, month-on-month, the most significant decrease.

However, in 21 primary groups of goods surveyed, 12 recorded price hikes, as opposed to nine where prices fell.