Consumer price index, 15 August 2004

The CPI stood at 113.0 (1998=100) in August this year compared with 111.9 in August last year, a rise of 1.0 per cent. The CPI adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) increased by 0.1 per cent in the same period.

CPI decrease in August

The consumer prices fell by 0.3 per cent from July to August, mainly due to prolonged summer sales of clothing and footwear. The prices of clothing and footwear fell by 3.6 per cent in total. The prices of footwear fell more than the prices of clothing. Over the last two months the prices of clothing and footwear have fallen by 7.8 per cent in total.

The food prices fell by 0.7 per cent, mainly caused by a drop in the prices of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. The prices of potatoes, cauliflower, pepper and grapes showed a particularly strong decrease.

The prices of social protection services fell by a slight 0.2 per cent in August. Household payments in public and private kindergartens as a total fell slightly, as public kindergarten fees have increased while fees in private kindergartens have decreased since the last survey in May. See Household payments in kindergartens. Rates of change, August 2004 for information on the development of kindergarten payments from January to August 2004. The price fall of social protection services was offset by an increase in the prices of out of school care. The prices of dental services have also increased since the last survey in January.

Rise in electricity tariffs last year caused drop in year-to-year change

The consumer prices have increased by 1.0 per cent from August 2003 to August 2004. The main driving force behind the CPI growth comes from rising petrol prices, with prices 8.3 per cent higher than in August last year.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI dropped from 1.5 per cent in July to 1.0 per cent in August. The decrease is mainly due to the price development of electricity tariffs. The electricity tariffs fell marginally in August this year, compared with a strong 11.9 per cent rise in August last year. The prices of clothing and footwear also contributed to the decrease in the year-to-year growth as the prices fell more sharply in August this year compared to the same period last year.

The price development of social protection services counteracted the fall in the year-to-year growth.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) fell from 1.1 per cent in July to 0.5 per cent in August while the CPI-ATE went down from 0.2 per cent to 0.1 per cent in the same period.

New weights in the CPI

For the period August 2004 to July 2005 the weights in the CPI are based on average expenditure shares of 2001, 2002 and 2003. See: weights