Consumer price inflation in Ireland is bucking the eurozone trend, according to flash estimates from Eurostat.

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 10.0% in September 2022, up from 9.1% in August according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (40.8%, compared with 38.6% in August), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (11.8%, up from 10.6% the previous month), non-energy industrial goods (5.6%) and services (4.3%).

Eurostat’s estimate for HICP inflation in Ireland for September is 8.6%, down from 9.0% in August and 9.6% in July.

A majority of euro area countries saw their HICP inflation rate tick higher in September. In the Netherlands, for example, the latest HICP estimate is 17.1%, up from 13.% in August and 11.6% in July.

In Association with

Card spending data aggregated by the Central Bank indicates that higher energy bills and general inflation have not yet dented consumer spending in a meaningful way.

Through August, total card spending increased by 10% to €8.8bn compared with July. The Central Bank said this represents the highest value in card spending since this statistical collection began.

It was predominantly driven by a monthly increase of €630m within debit card PoS spending to total €6.5bn.

Total in-store spending amounted to €4.2bn in August, up 10% on July and ahead 14% year-on-year.

Total online expenditure increased by 12% to €3.4bn compared with the previous month and saw an increase of 23% when compared to August 2021. Online spending was 45% of overall PoS spending in August.

Card spending in August increased across all retail sectors on a monthly basis, according to the Central Bank.