Consumer price index, 15 March 2002

The CPI was 109.7 (1998=100) in March 2002, compared with 108.6 in March 2001.

Price change from February to March: Consumer prices up by 0.4 per cent

The prices of clothing and footwear continued to increase in March, but the prices are still under the December level. Prices of clothing increased by 4.6 per cent while prices of footwear rose by only 0.9 per cent.

The petrol prices increased altogether by 2.5 per cent, and are by that one of the main contributors to the rise in the consumer prices from February to March. The price increase is among other things due to the development of oil prices.

Altogether the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 0.5 per cent. The main reason is the increase in the prices of vegetables by 7.6 per cent. Fresh vegetables increased the most whereas the prices of meat and dairy products went down.

The tariffs on electricity went down by 7.0 per cent, and are the main contributor to moderate the growth of the CPI. The price fall was limited by the rise in rentals for housing and costs for owner- occupied housing. Both increased by 0.7 per cent.

Year-to-year change: Prices up 1.0 per cent

The CPI has increased by 1.0 per cent from March 2001 to March 2002. The low price increase is due to several conditions. Due to the reduction in the value added tax of July 2001, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages have declined throughout several months. Prices have decreased on average by 5.6 per cent during the last 12 months. Dairy products, bread- and grain products have contributed the most to the decrease.

The prices of clothing and footwear have also decreased. Even though the prices altogether increased by 4.0 from February to March this year, the price level for these items is 3.9 per cent lower compared with March last year.

Despite increases in the prices of petrol in the first months of 2002, petrol prices have fallen by 7.4 per cent due to the development in the oil prices and lower taxes, among other things.

The tariffs on electricity was one of the main contributors behind the price increase throughout 2001, but due to a strong decline in the tariffs from February to March this year the tariffs reduced the year-to-year change. The tariffs are 0.7 per cent lower than in March 2001. The decrease in petrol prices and tariffs on electricity makes the energy products reduce the price growth. The CPI excluding energy products (CPI-AE) has increased by 1.3 per cent since March last year.

Due to tax reductions at the turn of the year, prices of alcoholic beverages have also reduced the year-to-year growth. The CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) was 2.4 per cent measured by the year-to-year change in March. Changes in real taxes therefore pull the consumer price growth down by 1.4 percentage points. This is due to the value added tax reform, lower taxes on petrol, electricity and alcohol. The year-to-year change in the CPI-ATE was 2.6 per cent in March.

The main contributors to the growth of the CPI have been rentals. Costs for owner-occupied housing and rentals for housing have increased by 4.9 and 4.4 per cent respectively.

The rise in the transport sector was a result of a strong increase in the price of passenger transport by air. During the last 12 months the airline fares have gone up 20.8 per cent. In addition, the passenger transport by railway has also shown a strong increase.

The price increase for goods and services connected to recreation and culture has also contributed to the price growth. Price increases of, among other things, flowers, newspapers, books and stationery as well as some services have been registered.

The prices of catering- and accommodation services have contributed to the growth in the CPI by 4.4 per cent. Prices of accommodation services have increased the most by 7.1 per cent. Still, it is the catering services that contributed the most.

Changes in the year-to-year growth: Increase

The year-to-year growth rose from 0.8 per cent in February to 1.0 per cent in March. The price development of clothing explains most of this increase. Last year the increase after the winter sales happened mainly in February. This year the strongest increase occurred in March.

Petrol prices increased in March this year while a decrease occurred in March last year. The costs for owner-occupied housing and rentals for housing also contributed with a stronger increase this year compared to last year.

The tariffs on electricity, however, moved in the other direction. In March this year the tariffs showed a more normal seasonal pattern with a strong decline. Last March the tariffs increased by 3.1 per cent.

The CPI-AT rose from 2.2 per cent in February to 2.4 per cent in March while the CPI-ATE went up from 2.1 per cent to 2.6 per cent.