Consumers paid 2.5 per cent more in January than a year ago for goods and services.

The level of inflation for the goods and services included in the Consumer Price Index increased 0.1 percentage point from the December 2023 annual inflation rate.

The figures were released in the Department of Statistics’ CPI January 2024 report.

Between December 2023 and January 2024, the average cost of goods and services in the CPI rose by 0.4 per cent.

The report said the basket of goods and services that cost $100 in April 2015 now costs $116.50.

In the 12 months to January 2024, fuel and power saw the biggest annual percentage change, up 6.2 per cent, while tobacco and liquor jumped 3.9 per cent, and education, recreation, entertainment and reading saw a 3.8 percentage increase.

There was a 3.1 per cent annual percentage increase for food, a 2.8 per cent upwards change for rent and a 2.5 per cent increase for health and personal care.

Speaking to the ten-year inflation trends, the report said: “Over the past decade, the annual rate of inflation exhibited significant variability, reaching a ten-year low of -1.4 per cent in July 2020 and peaking at 5.1 per cent in September 2022.”

The annual average percentage change for the period 2014 to 2023 shows a positive growth trend in price change, peaking in 2022 at an average 4 per cent.

The report said that the annual average percentage change for the period 2014 to 2023 shows a positive growth trend in the price change of food, peaking in 2022 at an average 7.9 per cent.

The CPI is a statistical tool used for measuring changes in the prices of consumer goods and services purchased by private households.

The base period, used as a reference point for measuring the price change, is April 2015.