Albania’s annual inflation rose to 2.4% in June, up from 2.1% in the same month last year, driven mainly by higher food and housing costs, the national statistics agency INSTAT said on Tuesday.
Despite the year-on-year increase, consumer prices fell 0.2% on a monthly basis, led by a drop in food prices.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages contributed the most to annual inflation, adding 1.19 percentage points to the headline rate, followed by housing, water, electricity and fuel, which added 0.36 percentage points.
Other upward contributions came from furniture and household maintenance (+0.22 pp), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+0.17 pp), recreation and culture (+0.15 pp), and hotels, cafés and restaurants (+0.10 pp). Clothing, communication, health, and education also saw modest increases, while transport prices edged down, subtracting 0.03 percentage points.
On a monthly basis, food and non-alcoholic beverages fell 0.9%, while clothing and footwear dropped 0.3%. Slight gains were seen in recreation and culture (+0.5%), housing and utilities (+0.3%), transport (+0.3%), and miscellaneous goods and services (+0.1%).
The inflation rate remains below the Bank of Albania’s 3% target, indicating limited immediate pressure on the central bank to tighten monetary policy.