Inflation in Ukraine for January 2024 fell to 4.7%, down from 5.1% in both December and November. On a month-on-month basis, inflation decelerated to 0.4% in January compared to 0.7% in December and 0.5% in November, the State Statistics Service reported on February 9. (chart)
January's consumer prices saw food and non-alcoholic beverage prices increase by 1.1%. The most significant price surge was in vegetables, which were up 16.8%. There were also increases in the prices of fruit, beef, milk, dairy products, oil, fish, fish products, and pasta ranging from 4.5% to 0.7%. Conversely, egg prices saw a decline of 8.4%, with decreases also noted in pork, sugar, processed grain products, sunflower oil, poultry, lard, and rice, ranging from 3.6% to 0.6%.
The price of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products rose by 0.7%, attributed mainly to a 1.1% increase in tobacco products.
Clothing and footwear experienced a significant decrease in price by 5.5%, with clothing down by 5.6% and footwear by 5.5%.
Healthcare prices climbed by 1.3%, largely due to price hikes in outpatient services by 1.5% and pharmaceutical products by 1.3%.
Transportation prices dropped by 1.5%, chiefly because of a 4.6% reduction in the cost of fuel and oils, although railway passenger transport fares went up by 2.5%.
In 2023, Ukraine's inflation rate cooled to 5.1% following a spike in 2022 to 26.6%, up from 10.0% in 2021.
The National Bank of Ukraine, in January, revised its inflation forecast for 2024 downwards from 9.5% to 8.6%. The bank predicts inflation will stand at 5% by the end of the first quarter before rising to 6.6% in the second quarter and 8.8% in the third quarter.