Macedonia’s consumer prices fell by 0.3% y/y in November, following a 0.4% y/y decline in October, statistics office data showed. Compared to the previous month, consumer prices were flat in November.

The smaller CPI decline in November was supported by narrower y/y contractions in the groups of food and non-alcoholic beverages (to 0.1% from 0.7% in October) and restaurants and hotels (to 0.8% from 1.4%). In addition, the annual price growth accelerated in the groups of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (to 1.6% from 1%) and health (to 2.3% from 2.1%).

On the other hand, the  y/y decline in prices widened in a number of other groups, including furnishings (to 2.4% from 1.5%), transport (to 3.9% from 2%), communication (to 2.5% from 2.4%), as well as recreation and culture (to 6.2% from 5.5%). The growth of consumer prices slowed down in education (to 0% from 0.2%) and miscellaneous goods and services (to 1.1% from 1.7%).

So far this year, the annual growth of CPI was negative in seven months – April, May, June, August, September, October and November. As a result, Macedonia reported an average deflation of 0.3% y/y in January-November.