Inflation accelerated to 4% in 2025, with mainly non-alcoholic beverages and miscellaneous services experiencing price growths

Over the past year, consumer prices rose significantly faster than in 2024, with as many as eight divisions experiencing accelerated growth. Prices of non-alcoholic beverages and miscellaneous services, such as dining, insurance, and personal and social care, rose sharply. Food prices increased the least in the past nine years. Compared with 2024, prices of housing and energy, accelerated due to higher prices of water and sewage, though the overall growth rate remained below average.

The average inflation rate for the entire year 2025 reached 4%. Consumer prices increased more dynamically than in 2024 (+2.8%) but at a significantly slower rate than in 2023 and 2022, when inflation reached even double-digit rates. A separate informational report on December’s inflation is published by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic.

During 2025, consumer prices rose across all 12 main divisions of the consumption basket. While price growth did not exceed 10% in any division; five of them experienced growth exceeding 5%, i.e. education, restaurants and hotels, miscellaneous goods and services, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco, and postal and communication services. A key impact was that in 2025, eight divisions experienced an acceleration in the year-on-year pace of price growth. The most significant year-on-year increase in the growth rate, exceeding 2 percentage points (p.p.), was recorded in restaurants and hotels, housing and energy, recreation and culture, as well as miscellaneous goods and services. In contrast, the most considerable year-on-year slowdown in price growth, exceeding 4 p.p., was recorded in healthcare.

Significant impacts affecting price growth in 2025

The acceleration of the average annual inflation was largely driven by price increases in lower-weighted divisions. Services in restaurants and hotels recorded an 8.8% increase, primarily due to significantly higher prices for catering services. Price developments were also affected by more expensive miscellaneous goods and services (+6.4%), especially motor vehicle insurance, as well as personal and social care services such as hairdressing and senior care facilities.

Housing and energy prices, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages, also had a significant impact on the rise in annual inflation. These two divisions represent nearly half of Slovak household expenditures. Housing and energy prices rose by 2.6% year-on-year, mainly due to double-digit price increases in water supply and waste collection. Key energy prices – electricity and gas – experienced a year-on-year increase of only up to 2%.

Over the past year, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices increased on average by 3.1%. This was more than in 2024 (+2.5%), though this increase was not caused by the prices of food themselves, but by the record-high growth in non-alcoholic beverage prices, rising at nearly 18%—the highest rate in history. Food prices increased more moderately, on average by 1.8%, which was the lowest value since 2017. Prices rose in 7 out of 9 monitored groups of food products, with only meat and vegetables recording a decline. The most dynamic increases, exceeding 6%, were recorded in the prices of milk with cheese and eggs, as well as oils and fats. Prices were also higher for fruit, bread and cereals, sugar and confectionery, and other food treats.

Above the annual average level was also the price growth in the recreation and culture division (+4.7%), where the largest price increases were recorded for recreational, sports, and cultural services, mainly due to more expensive event tickets. Services and goods in the education division (+9.8%) and alcoholic beverages with tobacco (+5.6%) also recorded significantly above-average growth during the year.

The slowest price increases in 2025 were observed in the transportation division (+2.3%). Cheaper fuels and motor vehicles partially counterbalanced almost a 10% rise in rail transport and a 16% increase in road transport prices. Among the slowest-growing prices in 2025 was also healthcare (+2.5%), influenced by a nearly 1% year-on-year decrease in pharmaceutical products.

Development of core and net inflation

At an annual total year-on-year inflation rate of 4% for 2025, core inflation²⁾ reached 3.2% and net inflation²⁾ reached 3%.