The December 2022 inflation figures are out, and the news is not particularly good. While most bank economists expected annual inflation to fall in Q4, it remained at 7.2%, so inflation has plateaued rather than decreased.
Looking at the quarterly inflation rate (the change from Q3 and Q4), the news is even worse as inflation rose by 1.4%. Right at the top of the list of items for which we must dig deeper into our pockets are accommodation services (up 4.7%) and, unsurprisingly, meat, poultry, fish (up 4.2%) and grocery food (up 3.3%). We are also paying more for entertainment and culture, with recreational equipment prices up 3.5% and cinema admission charges up 2.4%.