Irish inflation accelerates to 3.7% in August on higher costs
Irish consumer price inflation accelerated in August, driven by higher housing, transport and education costs, figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday.
The consumer price index rose 3.7% annually in August, accelerating from 3.4% in July.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 0.7% in August, following a 0.1% rise in July.
Excluding energy and unprocessed food, annual inflation stood at 2.9%.
Education services recorded the largest annual price increase, rising 8.9%, reflecting higher third-level education costs introduced in October 2025.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels prices increased 8.5%, driven by higher home heating oil, electricity, rents and mortgage interest repayments.
Transport costs rose 5.4% annually, reflecting higher diesel and petrol prices as well as increased airfares and car hire costs.
No spending category recorded an annual price decline for a second consecutive month.
Services prices increased 4.0% annually, while goods prices rose 3.1%.
On a monthly basis, clothing and footwear prices rose 3.6%, largely reflecting a recovery from sales, while transport prices increased 3.0% amid higher petrol, diesel and car hire costs.
Recreation, sport and culture prices fell 1.1% from July, while insurance and financial services declined 0.7%.
Meanwhile, Ireland's EU-harmonised measure of consumer prices increased 3.4% annually in August, in line with preliminary data released in late August, and accelerating from 3.1% in July. On a monthly basis, the harmonised index rose 0.6%, also in line with flash data.
The CSO said the national average price of a litre of diesel increased by 25 cents annually to EUR1.95 in August, while petrol rose by 15 cents to EUR1.87 per litre.
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