Fuel price hike spikes inflation in November

Inflation increased slightly in November from the previous month following increase in the price of petroleum products.

The year-on-year change in consumer prices calculated by Statistics Finland was 0.8 per cent in November. In October, inflation stood at 0.5 per cent.

The rise in inflation from October to November was mainly caused by the price rise in petroleum.

Consumer prices were raised most in November from one year ago by increases in vehicle tax and prices of petroleum, electricity and cigarettes.

The increase in consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of mobile telephones, second-hand passenger cars, and real estate as well as cuts in housing loan interest rates.

Consumer prices changed by 0.2 per cent from October to November mainly due to the price hike of petroleum products.

Every mid-month, Statistics Finland’s interviewers collect around 50,000 prices on nearly 470 commodities from approximately 2,700 outlets for chalking out the Consumer Price Index. In addition, some 1,000 items of price data are gathered by centralised collection.

According to the preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the rate of inflation in the euro area was 1.5 per cent in November. In October, it stood at 1.4 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland in November was 0.9 per cent.