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Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 4.6% annually in March and those of education and miscellaneous goods and services increased by 4.3% and 4%, respectively.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.8% in March, reversing a 0.7% rise in the previous month.

Separate data from the Ljubljana-based statistics agency showed that retail sales declined 5.2% annually in February and fell 1.8% a month ago, SURS said on March 31.