Retail prices, on average, were 0.4% higher in May compared with May 2017, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
However, Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages saw its consumer price index fall by 2.3% against last year.
The CSO reports that Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages fell due to lower prices across a range of products such as meat, jam, honey, chocolate & confectionery, vegetables and bread & cereals.
Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate & confectionery prices fell by 6.6% as a whole, the strongest decline in the industry.
Meat prices fell by 3.3%, vegetables fell by 2.8% and bread and cereals fell by 1.8%.
For non-alcoholic beverages, decreases in coffee, tea and cocoa, down 3.3%, were lessened by increases in mineral waters, soft drinks as fruit and vegetable juices.
Compared to the April, Food prices rose by 0.1% on average across all categories in May, and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 1.9% across its categories.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose by 1.9% over the 12 months, and only 0.3% compared to April.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
