Inflation soars to 9 per cent in April

Inflation as measured by Consumer price index hit 9 per cent in April, up from 6.7% in March. 

The big increase is attributed to a large degree on high air fares coinciding with the first TT to be held since 2019.  Excluding these from analysis yields a rate of 7.8% 

The category ‘Transport’ remains the largest contributor to the rate of inflation, providing a 3.9% increase in the overall 12-month rate, followed by ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ a 2.3% increase. 

Five items within the ‘Transport’ category show significant increases. ‘Other travel costs’ experienced the biggest increase in prices (68.0%), followed by ‘Petrol and oil’ (30.8%) and ‘Air travel’ (30.2%). 

Within ‘Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’, ‘Oils and other fuels’ experienced the biggest increase in prices (82.7%) compared to the same month last year.