Consumer price index, 15 January 2005

The CPI stood at 113.6 (1998=100) in January this year compared with 112.4 in January last year, an increase of 1.1 per cent. The year-to-year growth in CPI adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) was 0.7 per cent in January, down from 1.0 per cent in December.

Price fall of clothing and footwear from December to January

The CPI fell by 0.2 per cent from December 2004 to January 2005. A few but heavy consumer groups caused the decline, several groups pulled in the opposite direction. The seasonal sales of clothing, footwear and furniture were the main drivers behind the decline in the CPI. The prices of clothing and footwear declined by 10.4 per cent, which was stronger than the fall in furniture prices.

Components in the transport group, particularly car and petrol prices and some services connected to transport, contributed in pushing the CPI up from December to January. Car prices increased by 1.2 per cent while petrol prices increased by 1.3 per cent. The price increase of cars is attributed to the approximately 2.2 per cent increase in special taxes on the purchase of cars.

Rentals also contributed to push the CPI up, with an increase of 0.5 per cent. Prices of services related to recreation and culture, dental services, beauty care services and after-school activities also increased.

CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) declined by 0.7 per cent from December to January. Tax changes pushed the CPI up by 0.5 percentage points. As of 1 January 2005, the general value added tax increased from 24 to 25 per cent while the lowest level of value added tax increased from 6 to 7 per cent. There has also been an increase in a number of special taxes. On the other hand, the value added tax on food and non-alcoholic beverages was reduced from 12 to 11 per cent.

Transport pushes CPI up

The CPI increased by 1.1 per cent from January 2004 to January 2005. The greatest influence to the year-to-year growth in CPI in January came from the transport group. Looking at the component contribution, petrol prices was the most important component, with an increase of 8.2 per cent, followed by car prices, which had a more moderate increase. Price increases for a number of transport services and accessories for personal transport equipment, also added to the growth in the CPI.

Rentals for housing and the cost of owner-occupied housing increased by 2.3 and 2.2 per cent respectively from January 2004 to January 2005, and had an upward effect on the CPI. Prices of materials for maintenance and repair of dwellings also added to this increase.

Price increases were also registered for a number of services related to recreation and culture, health, insurance and restaurant services.

With a price decrease of 10.0 per cent from January 2004 to January 2005, the price of electricity dampened the growth in the CPI in the last 12 months. The same goes for prices of clothing and footwear, with a combined decline of 4.0 per cent. Audiovisual equipment also pulled down the CPI with a price decline of 7.8 per cent in the last 12 months.

New tables

As of this publication there will be changes to the tables. There will be fewer tables, but the figures will still be available in Stat Bank Norway.