According to the harmonized index, prices in Albania increased by 2.1%

The harmonized index of consumer prices rose by 2.1% in February.

This index, which aims to deliver comparative price performance to European Union countries, seems to be at significantly higher levels in relation to the domestic consumer price index for this year. For February, the official inflation rate in Albania declined again and reached 1.7%.

On the other hand, the harmonized price index is recording a higher growth, albeit declining compared to January. According to Institute of Statistics, the rise in prices has come mainly from hot food and services, restaurants and cafés. The food group has historically been the main contributor to the growth of the harmonized price index. For February, it contributed by 1.76 percentage points to total growth. Meanwhile, a growing impact this year is the hotel, bar and restaurant sector, with 0.33 percentage points. Price increases in this group can be attributed to the rise in hotel services, where demand in recent years appears to be rising sharply, due to the growing influx of foreign tourists.

At present, the rise in prices according to the harmonized index in Albania is considerably higher than the EU average, which was 1.6% in February. Based on the methodology used by Institute of Statistics, the harmonized index of consumer prices includes expenditures made within the territory of the country by Albanian households as well as visitor costs, while the consumer price index only covers the private expenditures of Albanian households carried out internally and abroad.

SCAN

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