Food prices push April inflation to 2.4% - NSO
Restaurants, airfares and hygiene products among key drivers of rising costs
Malta’s annual inflation rate climbed to 2.4 per cent in April 2025, up from 2.1 per cent in March, driven largely by rising food prices and costlier services, the National Statistics Office said on Thursday.
The Retail Price Index (RPI), which tracks the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services, showed that the biggest upward pressure came from the Food Index, contributing +0.73 percentage points to the overall rate. The NSO attributed this mainly to increased prices in restaurant services.
The 12-month moving average rate, which smooths out short-term fluctuations, stood at 1.6 per cent in April.
Apart from food, significant upward pressure also came from the Transport and Communication Index (+0.46 points), largely due to higher airfares, and the Personal Care and Health Index (+0.28 points), driven by more expensive hygiene-related products.
No downward contributions to inflation were recorded for the month, meaning no category saw prices fall enough to offset rising costs elsewhere.
In terms of inflation by category, beverages and tobacco registered the highest annual inflation rate at 3.8 per cent, followed by other goods and services at 3.4 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum, water, electricity, gas and fuels remained flat at 0.0 per cent, while furnishings and household equipment rose only 0.2 per cent.
The figures suggest inflationary pressures remain modest but persistent, with services such as dining and travel continuing to drive overall costs upward.