Bulgaria’s annual consumer price index (CPI) recorded 8.7 per cent inflation in June 2023, down from 10.1 per cent a month earlier, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said on July 17.
It was the sixth consecutive monthly drop in the annual inflation figure recorded in Bulgaria, falling into single-digits for the first time since January 2022, when the year-on-year inflation was 9.2 per cent.
For the month of June, the CPI showed 0.4 per cent deflation, the second month in a row that the index shrank on a monthly basis, following a 0.1 per cent decline in May, according to NSI data.
Food prices in June were one per cent lower compared to the previous month, while non-food prices fell by 0.2 per cent and services prices were 0.1 per cent lower.
Compared to June 2022, food prices were 13.4 per cent higher, while non-food and services prices rose by 4.1 per cent and 8.4 per cent, respectively.
The harmonised CPI figure, calculated by NSI for comparison with European Union data, recorded 0.1 per cent inflation in June, but the annual harmonised CPI inflation was 7.5 per cent, down from 8.6 per cent a month earlier.
Food and beverage prices were 13.8 per cent higher in June, on an annual basis, while the price of utilities and housing increased by nine per cent and transportation costs were 9.2 cent lower compared to June 2022. The three categories account for 48.9 per cent of the harmonised CPI basket.