Official figures show that the annual rate of inflation moved up to 2.8% last month from 2.6% in September. October's rate was the highest since April.
Increases in education costs and higher gas and electricity charges were among the main factors pushing prices up last month, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The CSO said consumer prices rose by 0.3% compared with September, as higher third-level education fees pushed education costs up 7.5%.
Natural gas prices jumped by more than 20% during October, while electricity prices were up 6.4%. Rents rose 1.1%, while mortgage interest costs were up 0.6%. Mortgage costs have risen by more than 18% over the past 12 months.
Transport prices fell by 0.8%, due to lower air fares and petrol prices.
The EU harmonised measure of inflation - which excludes mortgage repayments - was up 0.3% last month, giving an annual increase of 1.5%.
Separate CSO figures show that the volume of manufacturing production rose by 0.2% in September compared with the same month last year. The modern sector - which includes high-tech and chemicals - showed a 1.1% annual increase, but the traditional sector fell by 1.8%.
Seasonally adjusted figures for the third quarter of the year show that production rose by 2.3% compared with the second quarter.
