Inflation in Ukraine: trends and dynamics in March

The State Statistics Service reported that in March, consumer price growth in Ukraine accelerated to 0.5% compared to 0.3% in February. At the same time, annual inflation in the country slowed to 3.2%.

According to the State Statistics Service, the consumer price index in March 2023 was 1.5%. Thus, year-on-year inflation in March 2024 decreased to 3.2% from 4.3% in February.

Core inflation also rose in March, to 1.0% compared to 0.4% in February-January. However, year-on-year, core inflation fell to 4.2% from 4.5% in February.

In March, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased by 0.2%. The largest price declines were observed for eggs (by 16.4%), sugar, lard, pork, sunflower oil, as well as processed cereals, vegetables, and milk.

The opposite trend was observed in the prices of fruit, beef, dairy products, butter, poultry, bread, soft drinks, and pasta, which all went up.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased by 0.4%, with tobacco products going up by 1.3%. Prices for clothing and footwear rose the most significantly, by 12.9%.

In the transportation sector, prices increased by 1.7%, mainly due to higher rail passenger transportation fares and fuel and oil prices.

Communication prices also increased by 0.5%, in particular due to higher local telephone tariffs.