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Harmonized indices of consumer prices in February 2026
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Harmonized indices of consumer prices in February 2026

Last update: 18.03.2026 | Number of views: 5390
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Publisher: Statistical Office of the SR
Topic: Macroeconomic statistics
Domain: Consumer prices and prices of production statistics
Publish Date: 18.03.2026

Harmonized annual inflation slowed to 4.0% in February

In February 2026 the annual inflation1) in the Slovak Republic, according to the common European methodology reached 4.0%, in the month-on-month comparison, it reached 0.1%. The average annual HICP inflation rate for the period March 2025 to February 2026 (compared to the period March 2024 to February 2025)2) reached the value 4.2%.

The annual harmonized inflation rate in the Slovak Republic was higher than the value recorded within the national methodology published on 13 March 2026 in the statistical product Inflation - consumer price indices in February 2026.

In the month-on-month development, prices increased in 9 out of 13 divisions (household expenditure groups) ranging from 0.2% in Housing with energy division to 1.3% in Transport division. In Insurance and financial services division the price increase was only slight. A month-on-month price decrease was recorded in 3 divisions: Clothing and footwear (-1.1%), Food and non-alcoholic beverages (-0.8%) and Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-0.1%).

In annual comparison, prices increased in 12 out of 13 divisions, ranging from 0.9% in the Housing equipment with household maintenance division to 9.2% in the Housing with energy division. Only the Transport division recorded annually lower prices (-0.9%).

The values of harmonized inflation for February 2026 in the EU and EFTA countries will be published by Eurostat on 18 March 2026 at 11 a.m. on its website.

  • 1) annual inflation compares the change in the price level in the monitored month of a given year compared to the price level of the same month in the previous year
  • 2) average annual HICP inflation rate compares the change in the average price level for the average of the Harmonized indices of consumer prices for the last 12 months to the average of the previous 12 months

Data source: DATAcube. database

Harmonized indices of consumer prices – monthly data:

  • Harmonized indices of consumer prices (divisions) to four bases - monthly [sp0109ms]
  • Harmonized indices of consumer prices - average of year 2025 (detailed structure) - monthly [sp1024ms]
  • Harmonized inflation - rate of change (detailed structure) - monthly [sp1025ms]

Harmonized indices of consumer prices – yearly data:

  • Harmonized indices of consumer prices (divisions) to three bases - yearly [sp1021rs]
  • Harmonized indices of consumer prices - average of year 2025 (detailed structure) - yearly [sp1022rs]
  • Harmonized average annual inflation - rate of change (detailed structure) – yearly [sp1023rs]

Outputs on the topic of inflation measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (Harmonized Inflation):

Changes from January 2026:

  • Inflation measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) - european methodology; and inflation measured by the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) - national methodology are published according to the new European Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose, version 2 (ECOICOP ver.2), which is aligned with the UN classification COICOP 2018. Goods and services are organized into 13 instead of the original 12 divisions, the names and content of some divisions, groups and classes of this classification have changed.
  • The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic introduced a new basis for calculating the basic index - common for both HICP and CPI, which is the average of the year 2025 = 100. Until December 2025, the base period for the HICP was the average of the year 2015 = 100, for the CPI the base period was December 2000 = 100.
  • As every year, the weights of representative items of consumer basket are updated according to the final household consumption calculated within the statistical outputs of the national accounts for 2024 and current household budget survey or other external and administrative sources. At the same time, from January 2026, Games of chance are included in both the CPI and HICP as part of recreational services within the division "09 Recreation, sports and culture".
  • More in the methodology for Consumer prices and prices of production statistics.

Consumer price survey

From January 2024, the Statistical Office of the SR processes price outputs for Food and non-alcoholic beverages division from a new data source - from scanner data, i.e. from the transaction data of retails chains. They replaced the traditional field survey, thus significantly expanding inputs on consumer prices in the mentioned division. From January 2025, data for the Alcoholic beverages and tobacco division is collected in the same way. The use of scanner data is an important part of the modernization of price statistics while maintaining and increasing its quality.

Harmonised inflation in the EU (HICP)

Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) are calculated according to a common methodology EU for comparability of inflation across countries. Annual average rate of change measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, is an important indicator of price stability in a country and its level is assessed as one of the four so-called Maastricht criteria before a country enters the euro area. The Statistical Office publishes data on the Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices - the so-called HICP inflation monthly, on the day of publication of the data by Eurostat - in accordance with the First release calendar in the DATAcube database chapter 2. 3. 3 - Harmonized Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP inflation).

HICP inflation, i.e. inflation measured by the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices is published usually a few days after the publication of inflation calculated according to the national methodology (CPI inflation). The consumer baskets of HICP and CPI differ slightly from each other; HICP, unlike CPI, does not include the item "Imputed rent" and selected items related to major household repairs and maintenance, which results in some differences in the weights of other items.

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  • Statistical Office of the SR
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  • P.O. Box 67
  • 840 00 Bratislava 4
  • Slovak Republic
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  • tel. +421 2 50 236 339
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  • e-mail: info@statistics.sk

While publishing of the whole information report or its parts, please state the source of information, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. The Statistical Office of the SR creates high-quality statistics useful for society according to 16 principles regarding the institutional environment, statistical processes and outputs in line with the Code of Practice for European Statistics.


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