Slovenia has ended 2023 with an average annual inflation rate of 7.4%, while consumer prices grew by 4.2% for the year, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia has said.
Consumer prices rose by 10.3% the previous year, the data showed.
The largest contributor to the annual inflation rate, of 0.8 percentage points, came from the increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, with prices in this segment 4.6% higher.
Elsewhere, in recreation and culture, prices were up 6.3% (impacting inflation by 0.6 percentage points), while alcoholic beverages and tobacco (where prices rose 9.4%), health (up 8.5%), restaurants and hotels (up 7.9%) and miscellaneous goods and services (up 6.2%) each added 0.5 percentage points of impact.
Throughout the year, service prices saw an average increase of 6.0%, while goods prices rose by 3.3%. Specifically, within goods, non-durable goods experienced a price increase of 4.5%, semi-durable goods saw a rise of 2.1%, and prices for durable goods decreased by 0.3%.
Month-on-month prices decline
On a month-on-month basis, prices were down by 0.5% on average, with fuel prices seeing the mot significant increase – diesel fell by 8.0%, liquid fuels by 7.6% and petrol by 5.3%.
Other factors that influenced the month-on-month price drop included waste collection services, which saw a 8.1% decline in prices, package holidays (down 3.1%), and vehicle purchases (down 0.9%).
Excise duty increases
In 2023, excise duties on tobacco products underwent three increases, while excise duties on petroleum products were subject to multiple adjustments. Additionally, the VAT rate for heating energy products reverted to 22%.
The annual growth of consumer prices for the year stood at 3.8%, but had the excise duties remained unchanged, it would have been lower, at 2.5%, the statistics office added.
