Consumer price indices (inflation) in Czechia remained at 2% in March, the same year-on-year growth as in February, which is the lowest inflation rate since December 2018.

It increased by 0.1% month on month, driven by higher prices in the transportation sector, including the government raising those for motorway vignettes.

As of March 1, the price of annual motorway vignettes was raised after ten years from CZK1,500 (€59) to CZK2,300 (€91) to reflect inflation development and will be indexed from now onwards. The change was approved last year as part of austerity measures aimed at tackling the budget deficit.  

Despite the y/y stagnation, “the price development in individual divisions of the consumer basket was different,” commented Pavla Sediva of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO). “Food and non-alcoholic beverages was the only division where prices were lower, approximately by 6% y/y,” she added.

Prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment increased by 4.8% y/y, and the price of highway vignettes increased by 53.3%. In the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector prices of flour decreased by 27.8% y/y, prices of pork were down by 5.7%, yoghurts by 7.9%, fruit by 2.9% and vegetables by 4.9%.

CZSO highlighted that “the biggest influence on the growth of the y/y price level in March came again from prices in housing water, electricity, gas and other fuels”, with an increase of 7.1%. Prices of materials and services for maintenance and repair of dwellings went up by 4.6%, water supply by 10.9%, sewage collection by 10.5%, electricity by 13.1% and heat and hot water by 3%.

Prices of natural gas dropped by 5.2% y/y and prices of solid fuels by 4.4%.

In m/m terms, prices of highway vignettes increased by 53.3%, and fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment by 1.6%. The increase was also registered in the restaurants and hotels sector, while price decreases came from food and non-alcoholic beverages, where prices of fruit dropped by 2.6%, eggs by 6%, pork by 1.7%, cheese and curd by 1.1% and yoghurts by 3.7%.