Slovenia's annual inflation rate slowed to 6.1% in July, 0.8 percentage points lower than the month before, but data from the Statistics Office shows rising food prices remain a problem.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 11.1% in a year, contributing 2 percentage points to the headline inflation rate, data released on 31 July shows.

The government has been unsuccessfully trying to tame food prices, which have been rising at rates higher than elsewhere in the eurozone.

After introducing a website in September last year which allows consumers to compare the retail prices of basic food products, it has now imposed monitoring of prices in the food supply chain.

Farmers, intermediaries, food companies and retailers will be required to report prices for half a year; for July they need to submit data by 22 August.

Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU-wide gauge, Slovenia's annual inflation in July ran at 5.7%, while prices remained unchanged at the monthly level.

In the eurozone annual inflation slowed to 5.3% in July, according to Eurostat.

Aside from food, other significant price hikes in a year include those in the group recreation and culture (+8.9%) and healthcare (+13.7%). Prices in restaurants and hotels rose by 9.2%.

Meanwhile, cheaper petroleum products eased annual inflation. Prices of liquid fuels dropped by 29.5% and prices of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment by 16.2%.

Electricity prices fell by 10.9% and pushed inflation down by half a percentage point.

Consumer prices dropped at the monthly level by 0.2%, mainly due to clearance sales, which resulted in 6.7% lower prices in clothing and footwear. Food prices also dropped by 1% from June.

On the other hand, prices of package holidays went up by 9.6% in a month and prices of liquid fuels and of fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment rose by 3.9% and 3.6%, respectively.