An increase in gas station pump prices and more expensive airfares were key to sending Bermuda’s monthly inflation rate to 3.1 percent, up from January’s 2.8 percent.

The Island’s inflation rate is higher than the US and Canada, where it is 2.4 percent and two percent respectively, but below the UK where the February rate stood at 4.6 percent.

A four-percent surge in prices for goods and services under the transport and vehicles sector contributed to the higher monthly figure in Bermuda.

Premium and mixed blend gasoline increased in price by two percent and 1.9 percent respectively.

There was also a small rise in rents for properties under rent control, with a 0.3 percent jump. But the rent sector overall showed only a 0.1 percent monthly rise as there was no significant change in private rental prices.

Other areas of the economy that edged up slightly were the cost of clothing and footwear, where customers paid more for dry cleaning, and health and personal care items as self-prescribed medicines and household medical supplies became more expensive. In both sectors the rise was 0.1 percent month-on-month.

A rise in the price of Cheddar Cheese (3.7 percent), cooking oil (3.5 percent) and bananas (1.7 percent) contributed to a 0.5 percent increase in the cost of a typical bag of groceries during February.

And there was a 0.3 percent rise in the area of education, recreation and reading with the cost of buying a pleasure boat jumping 5.4 percent and boat fuel up two percent.

Lower fuel and power prices, where the sector saw an overall 0.6 percent decrease, included electricity prices falling as the fuel adjustment portion of bills dipped by 1.3 percent.

There was no movement in the price of tobacco and liquor during the month and only minimal rises to the cost of household appliances.

From a year-on-year perspective one of the biggest inflationary factors is rent, with rent-controlled properties showing a 4.4-percent rise between February 2006 and February 2007, while non-rent controlled properties recorded a smaller 3.2-percent increase during the same period.

Health and personal care costs have risen seven percent and the cost of food has gone up 3.1 percent.