Stats: Slovakia's Average Inflation Reaches 4% in 2025

Bratislava 15 January (TASR) - The average inflation rate for the whole of 2025 reached 4 percent, with consumer prices rising more dynamically than in 2024 (+2.8 percent), but significantly more slowly than in 2023 and 2022, when inflation was in double digits, the Statistics Office reported on Thursday. During 2025, consumer prices increased in all 12 main categories. Price growth did not exceed 10 percent in any category; however, five categories recorded growth above 5 percent — namely education, restaurants and hotels, miscellaneous goods and services, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and postal and communication services. A key factor was that in 2025 the year-on-year pace of price growth accelerated in eight categories. The most pronounced year-on-year increases in the pace of price growth, by more than two percentage points, were recorded in restaurants and hotels, housing with energy, recreation and culture, and miscellaneous goods and services. By contrast, the most dynamic year-on-year slowdown in price growth, by more than four percentage points, was seen in healthcare. Higher prices in lower-weight categories contributed more significantly to the acceleration of average annual inflation. Prices of services in restaurants and hotels rose by 8.8 percent, driven mainly by markedly higher prices of catering services. Price developments were also influenced by more expensive miscellaneous goods and services (+6.4 percent), particularly transport insurance, as well as personal and social care services such as hairdressing and social facilities for seniors. Housing with energy and food and non-alcoholic beverages also had a significant impact on the growth of annual inflation. These two items account for almost half of Slovak households' expenditures. Housing and energy prices were 2.6 percent higher year-on-year, mainly due to a double-digit increase in water supply and waste collection prices. Key energy prices - electricity and gas - recorded year-on-year growth of only up to 2 percent. Price growth in recreation and culture (+4.7 percent) was also above the annual average, with the largest price jump recorded for recreational, sports and cultural services, mainly due to more expensive event tickets. Markedly above-average growth during the year was also recorded for services and goods in education (+9.8 percent) and alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+5.6 percent). The slowest price growth during 2025 was recorded in transport (+2.3 percent). Year-on-year cheaper fuels and motor vehicles partly offset an almost 10 percent increase in rail transport prices and a 16 percent rise in road transport prices. Among the slowest-growing prices in 2025 was also healthcare (+2.5 percent), influenced by a year-on-year decrease in pharmaceutical product prices of almost 1 percent. With an annual overall year-on-year inflation rate of 4 percent for 2025, core inflation reached 3.2 percent and net inflation reached 3 percent. mf