September inflation: healthcare, transport costs down, housing, goods and services up

Costs of healthcare and transport across Georgia decreased in September and rose for housing, water, electricity, gas and various goods and services, the latest inflation data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia on Tuesday shows.

Costs for healthcare decreased by 4.7 percent, falling by 14.1 percent for the subgroup of medical products, equipment and devices. Outpatient medical service costs increased by 11.7 percent and hospital services by 8.9 percent.

Transport costs decreased by 4.3 percent, while those for operation of personal vehicles dropped by 8.0 percent. The figures for transport services increased by 3.5 percent, and the numbers for purchase of vehicles by 1.8 percent.

Costs for goods and services in September increased by 10.0 percent, with a 6.0 percent increase for alcoholic beverages and 5.3 percent for tobacco products.

The annual inflation rate was mainly influenced by price changes for housing, water, electricity and gas, which increased by 5.1 percent, with the annual inflation in September constituting 0.7 percent.