Last month, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices was 5.6 per cent, down from 6.2 per cent in June, national data shows.

In a statement, the National Statistics Office said the highest annual inflation rates in July were recorded in food and non-alcoholic beverages (10 per cent), and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (7.6 per cent).

On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in communication (-1.4 per cent) and clothing and footwear (-0.7 per cent).

In July, the largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+1.69 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of bakery products.

The second and third largest impacts were measured in the restaurants and hotels index (+1.37 percentage points) and the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index (+0.73 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of restaurant services and rents, respectively.

The downward impacts on annual inflation were registered in the communication Index (-0.06 percentage points) and the clothing and footwear index (-0.03 percentage points), mainly reflecting lower prices of telephone equipment and garments, respectively.

During the same month, the annual rate of change recorded by the Maltese  HICP was 5.6 per cent - 0.3 percentage points higher than the figure for the euro area, which stood at 5.31 per cent