Ljubljana, 31 May (STA) - Annual inflation stood at 1.4% in May, 0.3 percentage points lower than in April, as significantly higher prices in the group housing were offset by lower prices of alcohol, tobacco and communications, the Statistics Office said on Friday.
The price group associated with housing accounted for half the annual inflation rate, as water supply jumped by 7.5% and electricity and gas prices were up 5.4%.
Prices in education (+3.8%) and hospitality services (+3%) were also significant contributors to the annual inflation rate.
On the other hand, prices in the group tobacco and alcohol were down 0.2% and in the group communications they dropped almost a full percent.
In general, services prices were 2.8% higher while goods were only 0.8% pricier than in the year before.
Compared to the previous month, prices were up 0.9% overall, mostly due to dearer food, holiday packages and oil derivatives.
Communications was the only group in which prices declined, dropping by 0.3 points.
The harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU benchmark, stood at 1.6%, down from 1.8% in April.