The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 3.4% year over year in December in Canada.
Statistics Canada recalls that in November, the index increased by 3.1%.
The federal agency largely explains the acceleration in growth in the overall CPI to the 1.4% year-over-year increase in gasoline prices in December compared to the decline of 7 .7% observed a month earlier, in November.
Excluding gasoline, the overall CPI rose 3.5% year over year in December.
Prices for food purchased in stores rose 4.7% year over year in December, matching the same increase observed in November.
As for rent prices, they continued to increase in December, by 7.7% from one year to the next, after recording an increase of 7.4% in November. The increase in Quebec was measured at 6.8% by Statistics Canada.
The increase in airfares was notable, jumping 31.1% month over month in December. The prices of fuel oil and motor vehicles also contributed to the increase.
From December 2022 to last month, the Consumer Price Index increased by 4% in Quebec, by 2.9% in New Brunswick, by 3.6% in Nova Scotia and by 2.6% in Prince Edward Island.
More details will follow.