“Irish inflation rate rises to 6.3% in April, but lower than March – Updates on EU inflation”

According to a flash estimate from the Central Statistics Office, prices in Ireland rose by 6.3% YoY up to April. The latest Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) estimate has reported a lower inflation rate of 7% YoY recorded in March. Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, will release April’s flash inflation estimates for the eurozone, with all figures up for revision later in May. Irish consumer prices have increased similarly to the euro zone, where prices climbed by 6.9% YoY. While food prices have increased by 0.5% in April and are 12.8% higher YoY, energy prices have fallen 1.3% compared to March but are still 12.1% higher compared to April 2022. The HICP excluding energy and unprocessed food has risen by 5.3% since April 2022, while the official measure of Irish inflation is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which recorded a 7.7% YoY price increase up to March. Additionally, a report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found that Irish households have experienced a significant drop in living standards in 2022 due to wages failing to keep up with soaring inflation. Although the average pre-tax wage in the Republic rose by 4.8% YoY, real earnings declined. With inflation accelerating in France and Spain, German inflation unexpectedly eased to 7.6% YoY in April, down from a March rate of 7.8% YoY, which has muddied the data picture further for the European Central Bank (ECB). In attempts to rein in inflation, the ECB is widely expected to slow its pace of interest rate rises to quarter-point increases, starting with the May monetary policy meeting scheduled for next week. Since July 2022, the ECB raised interest rates 6 times, with each hike being no less than half a percentage point.