LJUBLJANA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia's annual average inflation dropped to 2 percent in 2024, down from 7.4 percent in 2023, as price increases across most sectors slowed significantly, the country's Statistical Office reported on Monday.
December's inflation dropped 0.3 percent from November, partly due to lower clothing and footwear costs, the office said.
"The largest impact on the annual inflation stemmed from higher prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages. In one year, service prices increased by 2.7 percent and goods prices by 1.4 percent," the report said.
Analysts, however, anticipate rise of inflation in 2025, partly driven by a public sector wage hike recently agreed upon by the government and public sector trade unions.
Under the agreement, public sector wages will increase gradually by about 19 percent between January 2025 and January 2028. The government says the rise is necessary to attract workers to the understaffed public sector, particularly in health care and education.
To mitigate inflationary pressure and ease financial burden on households, the government in November extended a cap on household electricity prices until the end of February 2025. The price cap has been in place since 2022.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Slovenia projected average annual inflation at 2.2 percent for both 2025 and 2026.
