Education and health are recession-proof
The EU-harmonised consumer price inflation rate reached just 0.2% in 2009, compared with 4.3% in 2008, according to figures from the Statistical Service.
This overall result was a mixture declining and rising prices in various categories.
The main decline in prices came from housing, water, electricity and gas, which fell by 7.6% and transport prices, which fell by 7.3%.
Prices of electricity, gas and fuel were affected by the fall in international oil prices relative to 2008.
A sign of recession was evident in the prices of clothing and footwear, which dropped by 3.1%.
However, two areas that seemed to prove recession-proof were education and health.
Education prices rose by 4.9% in 2009—even higher than in 2008, when they pretty much kept pace with overall inflation.
Healthcare prices also accelerated in 2009, rising by 6.3%, having already risen by 6.6% in 2009.
www.sapientaeconomics.com
January 15, 2010 – www.financialmirror.com
