Year-on-year, prices continued to advance for food & non-alcoholic beverages (13.51 percent vs 13.26 percent in November), mostly led by food (13.56 percent vs 13.30 percent), of which potatoes, yam and other tubers; bread & cereals; fish; milk, cheese and eggs; vegetables, fruits; oils & fats and meat; housing & utilities (7.43 percent vs 7.34 percent) and clothing & footwear (10.12 percent vs 9.97 percent). Additional upward pressure came from cost of: furnishings (9.76 percent vs 9.69 percent); education (9.80 percent vs 9.78 percent); health (9.81 percent vs 9.74 percent); alcoholic beverages, tobacco & kola (10.21 percent vs 9.96 percent); communications (7.43 percent vs 7.36 percent) and recreation & culture (8.72 percent vs 8.56 percent).
In contrast, inflation slowed for transport (10.08 percent vs 10.29 percent) and miscellaneous goods & services (9.58 percent vs 9.66 percent).
Annual core inflation which excludes price of volatile agricultural products stood at 9.8 percent in December, unchanged from November.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 0.74 percent, following a 0.80 percent increase in the prior month.