Taipei  - Taiwan's inflation rate hit a 14-year high of 5.92 per cent in July, mainly because of increases in food and fuel prices, the island's statistical agency said Tuesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), which edged up 0.6 per cent from June, rose 5.92 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the biggest rise since September 1994, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in a statement.

Besides fuel price hikes, the agency also noted that two typhoons, Kalmaegi and Fung Wong, which wreaked havoc on Taiwan in July, caused damage to the agricultural sector, resulting in sharp rises in food prices.

July's core CPI - which excludes items with volatile prices, such as fresh vegetables and fruits, fishery products and energy - rose 4.06 per cent from a year earlier and increased 0.33 per cent from June.

For the first seven months of this year, the CPI rose by an average of 4.18 per cent from a year earlier, the agency said.

The wholesale price index (WHI) in July also rose 11.49 per cent from the same period in 2007 and 1.62 per cent from June.

For the first seven months of the year, the WHI rose by an average of 8.81 per cent. (dpa)