Harmonized index of consumer prices, February 2002

The decline in the year-to-year change in the HICP for Norway from 0.9 per cent in January to 0.4 per cent in February was a combination of many factors, of which the most important ones were the developments in the prices of petrol, the tariffs on electricity and the rentals for housing.

From January to February the HICP increased by 0.4 per cent. The rise was mainly due to an increase in the prices of clothing, footwear and furniture as a result of seasonal sales in January. Also higher prices of petrol, food and health services contributed to this months` growth. A reduction in the rentals for housing and lower tariffs on electricity contributed to moderate the increase in the consumer prices. See the article for the Consumer Price Index for February for more details.

Change from December to January in the EEA

The HICP for the EEA had an increase of 0.3 per cent from December 2001 to January 2002. The price growth was largest in Germany and on Iceland with an increase of 1.0 and 0.9 per cent respectively. Belgium and Luxembourg, on the other hand, experienced the largest reduction during this period.

Most countries in the EEA experienced a seasonal decrease in the prices of clothing and footwear. Still, Belgium was exceptional with a decline of approximately 14 per cent on footwear and more than 20 per cent on clothing. The largest increases in the tariffs on electricity were registered in Ireland and Norway. The prices of food went up in the EEA from December 2001 to January 2002 mainly due to a considerable rise in the prices of vegetables. The rise in the prices of vegetables was particularly substantial in Belgium, Greece and Germany with an increase of more than 20 per cent. From December 2001 to January 2002 there have been a decline in the prices of transport services mainly as a result of the reduction in the prices of airline fares. Especially in Belgium and United Kingdom have the ticket prices been reduced.

Year-to-year change in the EEA

The HICP in the EEA increased by 2.5 per cent from January 2001 to January 2002. Iceland experienced the largest increase by 9.8 per cent. Ireland, Netherlands and Greece were also registered with high growth in the consumer prices of 5.2, 4.9 and 4.8 per cent respectively. Norway and United Kingdom had the lowest year-to-year changes with 0.9 and 1.6 per cent. The HICP for the European Union (EU) increased by 2.5 per cent. The price growth in the Eurozone has attracted a lot of attention in connection with the introduction of EURO as of 1st of January 2002. In advance Eurostat estimated a year-to-year change of 2.5 per cent in the Eurozone from January 2001 to January 2002. The actual price growth was 2.7 per cent.

Except for Norway, there were registered an increase in the prices of food in all the countries in the EEA during the last 12 months. The rise may be explained by a strong increase in the prices of fruits and vegetables. From January 2001 to January 2002 the EEA has experienced a considerable decline in the prices of liquid fuels with about 12 per cent. Particularly Luxembourg and Ireland experienced a substantial reduction with roughly 20 per cent. The tariffs on electricity went up from January last year to January this year, especially in Sweden and Norway. The prices of petrol have shown a negative development in all the countries in the EEA, except for Iceland.