Consumer price index, 15 July 2009

The consumer price index (CPI) was 125.7 (1998=100) as per July 2009 compared to 123.0 in July 2008. This is equivalent to a year-to-year growth of 2.2 per cent in July, down from 3.4 per cent in June. The year-to-year growth in the CPI adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) was 2.5 per cent in July 2009, down from 3.3 per cent in June.

Price fall of 0.6 per cent

The CPI fell by 0.6 per cent from June to July 2009. The most important factor was seasonal sales of clothing and footwear, which decreased 5.1 per cent. The prices of clothing for men and women fell by more than the prices for children’s clothing. The prices of airline fares fell by 22.3 per cent in July, after a sharp increase in June. It was mainly the fares to foreign destinations that fell sharply, while the fares to domestic destinations only dropped slightly.

The prices of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables fell by 8.2 and 5.2 per cent respectively and also contributed significantly to the decline in the CPI. The prices of hotel services fell by 12.9 per cent in July, which can be explained by seasonal variations. Also the prices of fuels fell some and contributed to the decline in the CPI.

The year-to-year growth was 2.2 per cent

The CPI rose by 2.2 per cent from July 2008 to July 2009. Imputed rentals for owner-occupiers increased by 3.4 per cent and were the most important factor to this growth. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages together with electricity including grid rent increased by 3.5 and 4.8 per cent respectively from July 2008 to July 2009. Other important contributors were the price development of restaurant services, recreational and cultural services, transport services and health services.

The prices of fuels and lubricants contributed most to dampen the year-to-year growth in CPI, due to a decrease by 10.4 per cent. The prices of telecommunication services fell 11.6 per cent and the prices of clothing and footwear decreased by 2.5 per cent from July 2008 to July 2009.

The year-to-year growth fell 1.2 percentage points from June to July

The year-to-year growth declined from 3.4 per cent in June to 2.2 per cent in July. The price development of electricity and food and non-alcoholic beverages were the most important contributors to lower year-to-year growth. The prices of electricity including grid rent rose by 9.6 per cent from June to July 2008, while they decreased by 0.4 per cent from June to July 2009. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 2.2 per cent from June to July last year, while they increased by only 0.1 per cent this year. Other important contributors to lower year-to-year growth in the CPI were the price development for airline fares, audio-visual equipment and fuels.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE decreased from 3.3 per cent in June 2009 to 2.5 per cent in July 2009.