Inflation drops slightly to 1.5% in May

The year-on-year change in consumer prices was 1.5 per cent in May, according to Statistics Finland.

In April, inflation stood at 1.9 per cent. The decrease of inflation from April to May was caused by a milder rise in average interest rate on housing loans and consumer credits, for example.

Consumer prices were raised most in May 2024 by increases in average interest rate on housing loans, consumer credits and the prices of package international holidays outside the EU from one year ago.

The rising of consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of electricity, children's day care and real estates.

The month-on-month change of consumer prices was minus 0.1 per cent, which was caused by lower prices of real estates and electricity.

The core inflation of Consumer Price Index was 2.8 per cent. Core inflation does not include food and energy price changes, as the short-term price fluctuations in these are higher compared to other commodity groups.

The price index of electricity was adjusted downwards in September 2023 concerning the data for August 2023.