The rate of consumer price inflation in the Czech Republic surprisingly fell in February to its lowest point in more than half a decade, largely due to falling food costs, data from the Czech Statistical Office reveals.
Consumer prices noted a year-on-year increase of 2.0% in February, a slower pace compared to the 2.3% increase reported in January. Economists had originally expected the inflation rate to decrease slightly to 2.2%.
Furthermore, this rate of price inflation is the lowest recorded since December 2018, when there was an identical rise of 2.0%.
Data further reveals that prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell by 4.8% annually in February. Prices for clothing and footwear increased by 5.8% in February, which is slightly lower than the 5.9% increase seen in January.
In terms of transportation costs, the increase picked up pace, reporting a 1.1% rise compared to the mere 0.4% increase recorded in the previous month.
On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices rose by just 0.3% in February, falling short of the expected increase rate of 0.4%.
