Consumer price index, 15 July 2006

CPI was 117.4 (1998=100) in July 2006, compared to 114.9 at the same time last year. This is equivalent to an increase of 2.2 per cent, up from 2.1 per cent in June. The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE was 0.6 per cent in July, down from 0.8 per cent in June.

Price fall of clothing and footwear in July

The CPI decreased by 0.3 per cent in July mainly due to summer sales of clothing and footwear. The overall price fall was 6.2 per cent, somewhat lower than the price decrease in July last year. Prices of accommodation services also registered a decrease, with an 8.1 per cent fall from June to July.

With a price decrease of 1.4 per cent, the electricity tariffs also contributed to the overall CPI fall in July. The petrol prices moved in the opposite direction in July as the prices increased by 3.7 per cent.

Actual rentals for housing rose by 0.3 per cent while imputed rentals fell by 0.2 per cent. As of August 2006 changes are made in the housing component, see information: Changes in housing component of the CPI .

CPI increased by 2.2 per cent from July 2005 to July 2006. The most significant contribution came from energy products, where electricity tariffs increased significantly by 20.7 per cent from the same month last year while petrol prices rose by 11.1 per cent. The CPI excluding energy products (CPI-AE) went up by 1.0 per cent in the same period.

There were also registered increased prices in a number of services in the last 12 months. Prices of accommodation services and health services went up by 8.5 and 6.3 per cent, respectively. Services connected to recreation and culture as well as transport also contributed in the same direction.

In the opposite direction, prices of clothing contributed the most to dampen the CPI growth with an average price fall of 4.0 per cent from July 2005 to July 2006. Prices of audiovisual equipments together with kindergarten fees also pulled the general price growth down.

Year-to-year growth - increase in the CPI, decrease in the CPI-ATE

The year-to-year growth in the CPI increased from 2.1 per cent in June to 2.2 per cent in July. The increase is mainly due to the development of electricity tariffs which decreased by 1.4 per cent in July this year compared to a fall of 4.4 per cent in July last year. The price development of clothing and imputed rentals for housing pulled in opposite direction.

The year-to-year growth in CPI-ATE was 0.6 per cent in July, down 0.2 percentage points from June.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) remained unchanged from June to July at 1.9 per cent.