Inflation rises by 3.2% in last 12 months, driven by food and energy costs

Ottoline Spearman

Consumer prices rose by over 3 per cent in the last 12 months according to the CSO, driven by energy and food costs.

The latest flash estimate for the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) put the annualised rate of price growth at 3.2 per cent in November, up from 2.8 per cent.

The HICP allows comparisons across Eurozone countries. 

Food prices rose by 4.2 per cent in the last twelve months, while energy rose by 3.3 per cent.

However, since October this year, overall prices fell by 0.2 per cent, while energy grew by 0.7 per cent and food prices were unchanged.

Bord Gáis Energy, Pinergy, Energia and SSE Airtricity all hiked electricity prices last month. Flogas increased its electricity prices in August.

Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the HICP is estimated to have risen by 3 per cent since November 2024.

The Irish HICP figure will feed into wider inflation numbers for the euro zone as a whole, which are due to be published on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, contactless payments continue to rise as ATM usage declines. Analysis of Bank of Ireland customer behaviour during the third quarter of 2025 shows that eCommerce contactless card transactions (digital wallets, Apple Pay/Google Pay) increased by 6 per cent, whilst contactless ‘tap and go’ payment levels rose by 4 per cent when compared to Q3 2024.

This is compared with the number of ATM transactions, which fell by 9 per cent in Q3 2025 compared with the same period last year.