7

The price of fruit was down as much as 21% in June contributing 0.4% to the drop in consumer prices. Lower fruit prices also reduced the prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverages sector by 2% from May. Meanwhile, fresh fish and fish products were up 1.8% and coffee, tea and cocoa gained 1.7%. The price of vegetables was up 1.3% and oils and fats were 1.2% more expensive. The prices of clothing and footwear were down 3.8% for the month. Footwear dropped around 9.4% due to pre-season discounts. The price of communication services dropped 1% due to cheaper telephone and internet services, which shed an average of 1.1%. Telephones and other communication devices meanwhile gained 0.4%. The price of services in the transport group dropped 0.8%, on average, for the month. The drop was fuelled by lower prices of petroleum products which were down 2.7%. However, air passenger transport was up 4.8% in the month.
The only sectors to show increasing prices were recreation and culture (2.7%) and health care (0.1%). The increase in recreation and culture was fuelled by an 8.6% hike in the prices of package holidays. The prices of newspapers and magazines gained as much as 5.2%. In the first half of the year average consumer prices were up 2.1%, while for the same period last year Slovenia recorded 1.9% inflation. The biggest hike in prices for the first six months of 2012 was recorded in recreation and culture. The prices of package holidays were up 10.9%, sports equipment increased by 8%, while books and other printed material were up 4.5%. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages were up 4.1% in the first half of the year (fruit went up 19% and vegetables by 15.8%).
Annually, the biggest price hike was recorded in alcoholic beverages and tobacco (5.1%), followed by housing (4.9%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (3.7%), transport (2.6%) and hospitality services (2.1%). Prices for communication services dropped 2.8%. Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU benchmark, prices in Slovenia have risen 2.4% in the past twelve months.