In December, the Czech Republic experienced a modest increase in consumer price inflation, reaching the highest level in a year, according to reports from the Czech Statistical Office released on Monday. Although inflation accelerated to 3.0 percent year-over-year, slightly up from November's stable 2.8 percent, it fell short of economists' expectations of 3.3 percent. This inflation rate marked the most significant increase since December 2023, when it stood at 6.9 percent.
The annual rise in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages accelerated to 1.7 percent from 0.9 percent, while transport costs increased by 1.4 percent, compared to a mere 0.1 percent rise in November. In contrast, utility cost growth decelerated to 3.9 percent from 4.3 percent. The average annual inflation rate for 2024 was reported to be 2.4 percent.
On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices unexpectedly declined by 0.7 percent, contrary to predictions of a 0.1 percent increase. Retail sales grew by 4.3 percent year-over-year in December, which was a slowdown from the 5.1 percent growth observed in November. Sales of food products saw a slower growth rate of 0.4 percent compared to the previous year's 2.1 percent increase. Non-food product sales maintained a steady growth rate of 5.5 percent, while retail sales of automotive fuel in specialized stores surged by 10.8 percent.
According to data from the Czech National Bank, the country's current account surplus significantly increased to CZK 30.0 billion in November from CZK 12.99 billion in October. This positive development was largely attributed to a rise in the goods trade surplus and a reduction in the primary income deficit.
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