In January 2019 the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices in Cyprus increased by 2.1% compared to January 2018, while compared to December 2018 the HICP decreased by 0.8%. according to data released Friday by the Statistical Service of Cyprus and Eurostat. A year earlier it was negative at -1.5%.
Compared to January 2018, the largest change was noted in category Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels with a change of 11.5%.
Compared to December 2018, the largest change was recorded in category Clothing and Footwear  (-17.3%).
As regards the economic origin, the largest change when comparing to the index of January 2018 was observed in category Food, Alcoholic Beveragesand Tobacco with a change of 4.3%.  In comparison to the index of the previous month, the biggest changes were noticed in Energy and Non EnergyIndustrial Goods, with changes of -4.8% and -4.7% respectively.
The euro area annual inflation rate was 1.4% in January 2019, down from 1.5% in December. A year earlier, the rate was 1.3%. European Union annual inflation was 1.5% in January 2019, down from 1.6% in December. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6%. Inflation in Greece decreased to 0.5% in January 2019, from 0.6% in December 2018, while a year ago it was 0.2%.
The lowest annual rates were registered in Greece (0.5%), Croatia and Portugal (both 0.6%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (3.2%), Latvia (2.9%), Estonia and Hungary (both 2.8%). Compared with December 2018, annual inflation fell in sixteen Member States, remained stable in five and rose in seven.
In January 2019, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from services (+0.70 percentage points, pp), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.36 pp), energy (+0.26 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.06 pp).
(Cyprus News Agency)
