Bulgaria’s consumer prices increased by 10% y/y in February, after rising by 9.1% y/y in January, statistics office reported on March 15.
Inflation started rising more significantly in the past several months, affected by high energy prices. It reached a nine-year high in September, going up by 4.8% y/y, and continued climbing in the following months.
The consumer price index (CPI) moved up 1.4% month-on-month, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a statement.
Food prices increased by 13.6% y/y in February, after rising by 11.2% y/y in January. Annual consumer price inflation was more significant in transport (up 20.9% y/y), housing (up 12.9% y/y), restaurants and hotels (up 10.8% y/y) and arts and entertainments (up 8.8% y/y).
Compared to the previous month, prices of restaurants and hotels increased the most, by 4.2%, while clothing prices dropped by 2.8%.
The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) increased 8.4% y/y in February, after rising 7.7% y/y in January. The HICP was up 2.4% m/m in February.
The European Commission has projected that consumer price inflation will reach 2.9% in 2022.