In January 2024, the Producer Price Index for Industrial Products increased by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month, while the index decreased by 0.7 percent year-on-year, the National Statistics Service (GeoStat) reported.

The prices for products from mining and quarrying decreased by 4.0 percent compared to December 2023, resulting in a -0.24 percentage point contribution to the overall monthly PPI change.

In the same period, the prices for manufactured products increased by 1.0 percent, contributing 0.82 percentage points to the monthly index change.

Within the group a noteworthy price increase was registered for food products (3.7 percent) and for basic metals (1.3 percent). Besides, the prices increased for electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning by 8.7 percent, contributing -0.93 percentage points to the monthly index change.

The annual PPI rate was mainly affected by price changes for the following products:

• Products from mining and quarrying: the prices were 0.8 percent lower, contributing -0.02 percentage points to the overall annual index change. Within the group the prices were lower for the subgroup of metal ores (-2.1 percent);

• Manufactured products: the prices decreased by 1.8 percent, contributing -1.43 percentage points to the overall annual index decrease.

There was a notable decrease in the prices for the following subgroups: chemicals and chemical products (-30.6 percent) and basic metals (-19.4 percent);

• Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning: the annual price increase amounted to 6.5 percent, which contributed 0.72 percentage points to the annual index change;

• Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation services: the annual price increase amounted to 4.2 percent, which contributed 0.08 percentage points to the annual index decline.