Irish inflation rises to 4% on energy: energy prices are 18.3% higher than a year ago

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for Ireland rose by 4.0% in the 12 months to October 2026 and by 0.5% compared with September, according to the flash estimate published on 3 November by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The Irish Times notes that this is the highest level in three years.

The figures. The main driver was energy: up 4.5% in one month and up 18.3% on October 2025. Food prices rose by just 0.1%, both month-on-month and year-on-year, while services prices fell by 0.2% in October but remained 3.5% above their level a year earlier. Excluding energy and unprocessed food, inflation was 2.5%, down from 2.8% in September, a level RTÉ describes as that seen before the Middle East conflict.

Context. In September Irish inflation matched the euro area rate of 3.8%, according to the CSO. The Irish Times reports that petrol and diesel have breached €2 and €2.15 a litre respectively at many forecourts, compared with about €1.70 before the Iran crisis. Kate English, chief economist at Deloitte Ireland, quoted by RTÉ and the Irish Examiner, recalled ESRI estimates that energy price increases feed into food prices eight to ten months later. “What is certain is that people are facing into a winter with much higher energy costs,” she said.

What comes next. Eurostat publishes the flash estimate for the whole euro area on 4 November, and the CSO will release the consumer price index (CPI) for October, together with the final HICP results, on 12 November. Flash estimates may be revised. According to the Irish Times, markets expect another quarter-point rise in the European Central Bank’s interest rate in December.

Real-time data for the country is on the country page