owing to sluggish global demand and declines in oil and non-oil commodity prices. The import deflator is thus estimated to have declined in year-on-year terms over this period.
While it will continue to fall in the following quarters as a result of these factors, the import deflator is expected to increase slightly from mid-2014 onwards, as the downward impact of the previous appreciation of the euro fades away, as non-energy commodity prices increase and as import demand gains momentum, allowing for stronger mark-ups.