The Central Statistical Office (CSO) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May 2026, revealing that annual inflation has eased to 0.3 per cent.
This marginal slowdown marks a slight decline from the 0.4 per cent inflation rate recorded in April 2026.
“The inflation rate for May 2026, which measures the percentage change in the all items index for the month of May 2026 over May 2025, was 0.3 per cent. This represents a decrease from 0.4 per cent for the previous period (April 2026/April 2025). The inflation rate for the comparative period (May 2025/May 2024) was 1.4 per cent,” the CSO said in a release yesterday.
The all items index, calculated from the prices collected for the month of May 2026, was 125.7, which remained unchanged from the all items index for April 2026.
The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased from 154.8 in April 2026 to 154.7 in May 2026, reflecting a decrease of 0.1 per cent.
Contributing significantly to this decrease was the general downward movement in the prices of fresh carite, fresh king fish, fresh whole chicken, tomatoes, Irish potatoes, fresh salmon, pimento, other chilled or frozen chicken, parboiled rice and pumpkin.
However, the full impact of these price decreases was offset by the general increase in the prices of cucumber, carrots, cabbage, oranges, cheddar cheese, chive, green sweet peppers, soya bean oil, canned tuna and fresh steak.
A further review of the data for May 2026 compared with April 2026 reflected a decrease in the sub-index for clothing and footwear of 0.1 per cent.
This period also showed an increase in the sub-index for alcoholic beverages and tobacco of 0.2 per cent.
All other sections remained unchanged.