2026.01.1508:48:26UTC+00Slovakia Inflation Edged Up in December

In December 2025, Slovakia experienced a slight uptick in its annual inflation rate to 3.8%, compared to the 3.7% recorded in each of the preceding two months. This figure was marginally below market predictions, which had anticipated a 3.9% increase. The pace of price increases accelerated notably for food and non-alcoholic beverages, rising to 2.8% from 0.9% in November, and for furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance, which went up to 2.7% from 2.4%. In contrast, prices remained unchanged for communication at 4.3% and for education, which saw a slight reduction to 8.8% from 8.9%. On the other hand, inflation eased for several categories: housing and utilities decreased to 2.8% from 2.9%; alcoholic beverages and tobacco to 5.6% from 5.8%; clothing and footwear to 2.2% from 2.3%; health to 2.8% from 3.1%; transport saw a significant drop to 1.7% from 4.4%; recreation and culture declined to 4.1% from 5.4%; restaurants and hotels slightly reduced to 8.9% from 9.0%; and miscellaneous goods and services decreased to 6.3% from 7.1%. On a monthly scale, consumer prices decreased by 0.3% in December, countering the previous month's 0.3% increase. Additionally, core inflation, which excludes products with regulated prices, edged slightly higher to 3.0%, rising from a seven-month low of 2.9% in November.