PRICES FOR CONSUMERS rose by 3.7% between August 2025 and August 2026, up from an annual increase of 3.4% in the 12 months to July 2026.

The new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show no category of goods or services declined in price.

If energy and unprocessed food are excluded, the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by 2.9% in the 12 months to August 2026.

The categories with the largest increases in that time were education services (+8.9%), essentials like housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (+8.5%), and transport (+5.4%).

The CSO said the rise in the cost of home heating oil, electricity, rents and mortgage interest repayments contributed to the overall figure.

Meanwhile, the category of restaurants and accommodation services rose mainly due to higher prices for food and drinks consumed in licensed premises, restaurants and cafés.

Transport rose due to higher prices for diesel and petrol as well as increases in the cost of airfares and car hire.

The average price for a litre of diesel in August 2026 was €1.95, an increase of 25c on the same month last year. Petrol prices increased by 15c to €1.87 a litre.

There were some price decreases on individual products in the 12-month period.

Irish cheddar reduced in price by 67c per kilogram, a pound of butter went down 55c, and two litres of full fat milk went down 9c.

Sirloin steak now costs 12c less per kilogram and a 2.5kg bag of potatoes costs 7c less. 

This was the second consecutive month in which no category recorded an annual decline in price.

Overall consumer prices rose by 0.7% in the month between July 2026 and August 2026.

The category that recorded the largest rises in the month were clothing and footwear (+3.6%) and transport (+3%).

The categories that recorded the largest decreases in the month were recreation, sport and culture (-1.1%), and insurance and financial services (-0.7%).