Malta’s annual rate of inflation as measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) in April was 5.4%, up from 4.5% a month earlier, the National Statistics Office said.

The NSO said the 12-month moving average rate for April stood at 2.1%.

According to Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union, this was the lowest national annual rate registered. France tied with Malta, also registering 5.4%. They were followed by Finland, which registered 5.8%.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 7.4%, stable compared to March. A year earlier, the rate was 1.6%.

European Union annual inflation was 8.1% in April 2022, up from 7.8% in March. A year earlier, the rate was 2%.

The highest annual rates were recorded in Estonia (19.1%), Lithuania (16.6%) and Czechia (13.2%).

The NSO said that the largest upward impact on annual inflation in Malta was measured in the food and non-alcoholic beverages index (+1.56 percentage points) while the downward impact was recorded in the communication index (-0.07 percentage points).

The HICP measures monthly price changes in the cost of purchasing a representative basket of consumer goods and services. 

It is calculated according to rules specified in a series of European Union regulations that were developed by Eurostat in conjunction with the EU states and is used to compare inflation rates across the EU.

A closely related measure of price movements is the retail price index.