Inflation has had a bigger effect on people with lower incomes, older households, rural households and households without children, according to an analysis by the Central Statistics Office.
Over the past five years, from March 2018 to March 2023, the Consumer Price Index has gone up by 16.9%. Nearly half of that increase happened in the 12 months from March 2022.
The analysis shows over that five year period, people on the lowest 10% of incomes experienced an inflation rate of 18.4%.
Those on the second income decile experienced an even higher rate of 19.1%. One adult households, without children, experienced the highest inflation rate at 19.3%. One adult households with children experienced inflation of 18.7%.
Households within the highest ten percent of incomes experienced inflation of 16%. The lowest rate was experienced by households with three or more adults at 15.7%.
Inflation in March 2023 was 7.7% compared to March 2022. Based on this annual measure, those on the lowest 10% of incomes experienced an inflation rate of 8.1% while those in the top 10%of incomes experienced inflation of 7.6%.
The CSO analysis also shows that the price of electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 102.2% from March 2018 to March 2023.
Between March 2018 and March 2022, they rose by 52.5% but they increased by another 32.6% in the year between that point and March 2023.
Mortgage interest payments also dramatically increased in the year since March 2022, reflecting the increase in ECB interest rates which began last July.
Between March 2018 and March 2022, mortgage interest payments rose by 11.8% but from March 2022 to March 2023, they rose another 35.3%.
The CSO figures also show that rents have risen by 27.5% over the past five years. They rose by 16.9% from March 2018 to March 2022 and rose again by 9% from March last year to March 2023.
Today's CSO figures show that for households in the lowest 10% of incomes, increases in electricity, gas and other fuels contributed most - 2.4% - of the 8.1% inflation they faced over the past year. This was followed by food and rent.
For those in the top 10% of incomes, higher restaurant and hotel prices contributed the most, 1.9% of the 7.6% inflation of the past year, followed by mortgage interest payments.
