Consumer price index, 15 September 2005

CPI was 116.0 (1998=100, reference year) in September 2005 compared with 113.7 at the same time last year, an increase of 2.0 per cent. The year-to-year growth in CPI-ATE was 1.3 per cent in September, which was the same as in August.

Price increase of clothing and energy products

Clothing prices increased by 7.0 per cent from August to September and was the most important single factor behind the growth in the CPI.

Energy products like petrol and electricity also contributed in pulling up the monthly CPI, with price increases of 3.3 and 2.3 per cent from August to September.

Prices related to education increased by 2.2 per cent from the last survey, while prices of accommodation services increased by 3.5 per cent from August to September.

Petrol prices pulled the CPI up the last 12 months

CPI increased by 2.0 per cent from September 2004 to September 2005. The main contributor to the year-to-year growth was petrol prices with a 17.5 per cent increase during the last 12 months.

Actual and imputed rentals for housing increased by 2.3 and 2.2 per cent respectively from September 2004 to September 2005. Prices connected to maintenance and repair of dwelling with a 2.6 per cent increase, also had an upward effect on the CPI.

Price increases were recorded in several services from September 2004 to September 2005, like services connected to recreation and culture, health and transport.

Pulling in the opposite direction, prices of audiovisual equipments declined by 8.8 per cent from September 2004 to September 2005. With a price fall of 3.4 per cent in the last 12 months, the prices of clothing also contributed to dampen the CPI growth.

Prices of electricity pulled the year-to-year growth in the CPI down. From September last year to September this year, prices of electricity fell by 2.7 per cent.

Prices of petrol pulled the 12-month growth up

The year-to-year growth in the CPI increased from 1.9 per cent in August to 2.0 per cent in September.

The increase was mainly due to the price development of petrol prices, which increased by 3.3 per cent from August to September this year, compared to a decrease of 4.8 per cent at the same time last year. Clothing dampened the increase in the year-to-year growth with a smaller increase in September 2005 than September 2004.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE remained unchanged at 1.3 per cent from August to September, while the CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) moved from 1.5 per cent in August to 1.7 per cent in September.