In July, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index stood at 1.07 per cent, the National Statistics Office said today.

A year earlier the annual rate was -0.05 per cent.

The main upward impacts on annual inflation were recorded in the Food Index (0.50 percentage points), the Recreation and Culture Index (0.25 percentage points) and the Beverages and Tobacco Index (0.19 percentage points). This was mainly due to higher prices for vegetables, expenses related to education and cigarettes respectively.

The largest downward impact was brought about by the Transport and Communication

Index (0.38 percentage points). This was mainly due to a price reduction in fuels.

The twelve-month moving average rate was 0.72 per cent.