Isle of Man inflation dips to 2.9% percent

Hospitality, education and food continue to drive price growth despite overall slowdown

Inflation on the Isle of Man dipped slightly in September, with prices rising by 2.9 percent compared with a year earlier.

Figures from Statistics Isle of Man show the annual Consumer Prices Index (CPI) eased, down from 3.3 percent in August.

The Restaurants and Hotels category saw the largest increase, rising eight percent over the year. Within that group, catering costs were up 8.4 percent.

Education recorded the second-largest rise, up 6.2 percent, driven mainly by an 11.3 percent increase in preschool fees and a nine percent rise in private education charges.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages were up 5.1 percent, with notable increases for convenience foods and soups (13.1 percent), beef (12.7 percent) and coffee and other hot drinks (11.1 percent).

By contrast, falling energy costs helped ease overall inflation.

Oil and other fuels were down 12.6 percent, gas fell eight percent, and petrol and oil dropped 5.6 percent over the year. Sea travel also became cheaper, 5.4 percent.

The report notes that while goods-related inflation has stabilised, service-based costs remain higher.

The price of domestic help rose by 17.6 percent, and rent increased 8.4 percent.

The Isle of Man’s Retail Prices Index (RPI), which includes housing and mortgage interest payments, dipped to 2.7 percent in September.

That measure showed the strongest growth in catering (up 8.3 percent), alongside increases in household services (up 5.6 percent) and housing (up 3.8 percent).

Statistics Isle of Man collects around 1,000 prices for 500 goods and services each month to compile its inflation indices, using January 2008 as the base year for CPI and January 2000 for RPI.