The annual rate of inflation as measured by the retail price indes in July was 4.7%, down from 5.4% in June.

The National Statistics Office said the highest annual inflation rates were registered in housing (8.9%) and food (8.8%).

The lowest annual inflation rates were registered in clothing and footwear (-2.2%) and water, electricity, gas and fuels (nil). The largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the food index (+1.9 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of take-aways.

A downward impact on annual inflation was registered in the clothing and footwear Index (-0.14 percentage points), mainly due to lower prices of garments.

The housing index registered the highest annual inflation rate at 8.9%, of which rent registered an annual rate of 17.4%, materials for house maintenance registered an annual rate of 6.4%, and services for house maintenance registered an annual rate of 9.1%.