More expensive rent and clothing

The consumer price index rose 0.4 per cent from 15 August to 15 September 1997. Higher prices for clothing and shoes and higher rent were the major contributors to the increase. The consumer price index rose 2.3 per cent from September last year to September this year. This is the same as in August. The all-items index for September was 270.9 (1979=100).

Prices of clothing and shoes rose 3.8 per cent from August to September after the annual summer sales. This was the main reason for the increase in the consumer price index from the previous month.

Rents rose 0.7 per cent in September, with the biggest increase occurring in housing cooperatives. Rental rates of rented housing showed only a modest change. Rental rates are included in the consumer price index in March, June, September and December.

School co-payments increased by about six per cent from January to September. Ticket prices for theatre productions have also increased sharply, the September calculation of the consumer price index shows.

Less difference between Norway and the EU

Harmonized consumer price indexes for the first part of 1997 show lower inflation in the EU over the past 12 months compared to Norway.

The figures for August show, however, a trend towards smaller differences between Norway and the EU. Prices in Norway climbed only 0.2 per cent from January 1997 to August 1997, while prices in the EU increased by one per cent during the same period. The growth in Norway in this period was the lowest in the European Economic Area (EEA). Cheaper electricity was one of the reasons for Norway's low inflation. Together with Greece and Britain, the other Nordic countries have the highest inflation in the EEA.

New Statistics

Consumer price index, per 15 September 1997.
Statistics are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: 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 Johannesen, tel. +47 21 09 47 30, e-mail: raj@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 42, 1997