KIEV, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's inflation rose to 13.7 percent last year from 12.4 percent in 2016 driven by a rise in prices for food, alcohol and tobacco, local media said Wednesday, citing a government report.
Despite the growth, inflation in 2017 was lower than 43.3 percent registered in 2015 and 24.9 percent in 2014, according to the report released by the State Statistics Service.
In 2017, prices for food commodities, which account for the lion's share of the households' expenditures, were up by 17.7 percent mainly due to the abolition of state regulations for food prices.
Besides, last year, alcohol and tobacco prices rose by 20.7 percent amid the increase of license duties.
The costs for transportation and utilities have also contributed to the inflation increase, rising by 16.7 percent and 10.6 percent respectively.
The government expects that the country's inflation will slow down to 9 percent this year.
