Price of clothing, shoes and furniture up

Consumer prices rose by 0.3 per cent from January to February. Increased prices for clothing, shoes and furniture after the January clearance sales, and higher car prices and day-care charges, are some of the factors behind the change. From February 1996 to February 1997 - the 12-month growth rate - prices rose by 3.3 per cent against 3.0 per cent in January. The all-items index for February was 268.6. The Norwegian harmonized consumer price index rose by 3.4 per cent from February 1996 to February 1997.

Prices of clothing and shoes rose by about 1.4 per cent from January to February this year, and were the single largest contribution to the change in this period. The main reason for the increase is the new fashions of the season. Only modest rises were seen in the prices of other clothes. By comparison, last year's January sales extended into February and the overall price of clothes remained unchanged. Furniture prices increased by two per cent after the January sales this year.

New Statistics

Consumer price index as of 15 February 1997.
Statistics are published every month in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: Berit Koht, tel. +47 21 09 44 58, e-mail: bkt@ssb.no, Lasse Sandberg, tel. +47 21 09 47 16, e-mail: san@ssb.no, Geir Ormseth, tel. +47 21 09 47 22, e-mail: geo@ssb.no, Randi Johannessen, tel. +47 21 09 47 30, e-mail: raj@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 11, 1997