Cyprus deflation–update for HICP

Deflation in Cyprus eased in October as consumer prices fell by only 0.8% compared with the same month of the previous year, having dropped by 1.2% year on year in September.
Compared with the previous month, consumer prices rose by 1.3% in October, which the Statistical Service said was mainly owing to increases in the prices of certain clothing and footwear items, potatoes and electricity.
Decreases were recorded in the prices of petroleum products.
For the period January-October 2009, the CPI recorded an increase of 0.1% compared with the corresponding period of 2008.
Meanwhile, the EU-harmonised consumer price inflation rate (HICP) for October also showed that deflation was easing, as the HICP index fell by 1.0% year on year in October, compared with a drop of 1.2% in September.
The biggest fall was in prices of housing, water electricity and gas, down 9.1% year on year, followed by transport, down 6.2%.