Inflation drops slightly in September

The year-on-year change in consumer prices was 0.8 per cent in September 2024, according to Statistics Finland.

In August, inflation stood at 1.2 per cent. The decrease of inflation from August to September was caused by a milder rise in average interest rate on housing loans and lower prices of electricity.

Consumer prices were raised most in September 2024 by increases in average interest rate on housing loans, maintenance charges and the prices of cigarettes from one year ago.

The rising of consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of electricity, petrol and diesel.

The month-on-month change of consumer prices was 0.3 per cent, which was caused by higher prices of vegetables and cigarettes, for example.

The core inflation of Consumer Price Index was 2.0 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.

According to the preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the rate of inflation in the euro area was 1.8 per cent in September. In August, it stood at 2.2 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland was 0.9 per cent in September.