Irish inflation increased at a slightly faster year-on-year pace for the second month in a row in September, rising to 5% from 4.9% a month before, a flash estimate of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) showed on Thursday.

The HICP rate, excluding energy and unprocessed food, known by economists as core inflation and seen as a better gauge of the underlying trend, slowed down for the second consecutive month to 4.5% year-on-year from 4.8% in August.

The rise in the headline rate was driven by energy prices, which are estimated to have grown by 3.7% in the month and were up by 9.0% over the 12 months to September 2023. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sharon Singleton)