Inflation cooled to 2.4 per cent last December, with the rise in the cost of living driven mainly by transport and foreign travel, and health and personal care.

The Consumer Price Index showed the overall rate of inflation inched down 0.2 percentage points from the 2.6 per cent measured in November, which was a 21-month high.

The average inflation rate for the whole of 2025 was 2 per cent, up marginally from 1.9 per cent in 2024.

The basket of goods and services, measured by the CPI, which cost $100 in April 2015, cost $121.20 in December 2025.

Food prices were up 2 per cent year-over-year in December. The sharpest increases were seen in the prices of meat and meat products (up 6.9 per cent), poultry (up 4.5 per cent), and sugar and confectionery (up 4.3 per cent). There was also a notable 7.5 per cent decrease in the price of flour and pastas.

The longer-term trend showed that 2025 was a third consecutive year of cooling inflation for food prices, with an average rate of 2.1 per cent, down from 3.6 per cent in 2024 and a steep drop from the peak of 7.9 per cent recorded in 2022.

In December, transport and foreign travel prices rose 5.5 per cent from 12 months earlier, while health and personal care saw the second highest rise of 4.3 per cent, while clothing and footwear logged a 3.3 per cent increase. Rents rose 1.4 per cent, according to the CPI.

Month-over-month inflation from November to December was 0.2 per cent. The biggest month-over-month rise was in transport and travel, a spike of 2 per cent, while food recorded the largest fall in prices of 1.1 per cent.

The December report was the third monthly CPI update in the space of four days from the Department of Statistics.