Many areas of living costs are rising in Ireland with the likes of car insurance soaring more than 30% over the past year, latest official figures reveal.

Home insurance premiums rose 7% and payments for health insurance plans jumped 2% over the 12 months.

At the same time, people renting homes have been forced to endure an average 8% hike while education costs - most notably for third level - have also increased.

Huge increases in some goods and services were offset by lower diesel and petrol prices at the pumps as well as the dropping cost of buying a car.

Over the year, clothing was also cheaper - as a result of sales - while the price of food staples such as meat, milk, cheese, eggs, bread and cereals also dropped slightly.

However, the price of vegetables has gone up with potatoes jumping 10% at the checkouts over the past year.

Overall the cost of living has risen by 0.1% in the last year.

The figures were released by the Central Statistics Office as part of its consumer price index.