The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the pace of falling consumer prices quickened once again last month.
The CSO says that consumer prices fell at an annual rate of 5.9% in July, compared with a rate of 5.4% in June. The prices of goods and services have now fallen each month since January of this year.
The CSO said that compared with June, prices dropped by 0.8%. The prices of clothing and footwear decreased by 9.9% in the month as a result of the summer sales, while furnishings and household equipment fell by 1.5%. Food prices were also lower last month, while transport costs rose by 0.4% due to an increase in air fares.
Today's figures show that service prices fell by 6.2% in the year to July, while goods fell by 5.5%.
The cost of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels has now fallen by 26.8% since July 2008, while clothing and footwear prices are down 11.2%. Transport costs have reduced by 6.2% while food prices are 4.2% lower.
In the year, there were increases in alcohol and tobacco prices, up 7.7%, while costs of education rose by 4.4% and health costs by 3.4%.
'Little relief' at the pumps - AA
Meanwhile, a survey from the AA says prices of petrol and diesel have remained very high in the last month. The motoring body says there is little relief in sight.
Its survey finds that petrol now costs an average of 116.7 cent at the pumps, while diesel is now averaging 104.8 cent. These prices are virtually unchanged from the July average, but remain far higher than they were at the start of the year. Petrol is up 22.1 cent per litre since January; while diesel is 20.4 cent higher.
'The reason is international oil prices,' says AA director of policy Conor Faughnan. 'A barrel of crude oil now costs over $70, as opposed to $33 last Christmas. In fact were it not for the dollar's weakness against the euro our fuel prices would be a lot higher.'
