This indicates that while prices are still rising annually, they are doing so at a far slower rate than they were during the two-year spike during the cost of living crisis.

Over the previous 12 months, petrol costs plummeted by 19%, home heating oil prices dropped by 17%, and solid fuel prices declined by 8%.

The cost of apparel and footwear decreased as well, by 7.5%. But September also brought price hikes, with hotel and restaurant rates rising by nearly 4% and alcohol and tobacco costs by 3%.

Consumer prices increased by 2.4% when energy and unprocessed food were excluded. Anthony Dawson of the CSO commented on the National Average Prices, stating that a 2.5 kg bag of potatoes had a 41 cent increase in price in September.

He added that the price of a pound of butter climbed by 39 cents, the price of 500g of spaghetti increased by a penny, and the price of two litres of full-fat milk increased by a penny.