Consumer price index, 15 March 2006

The CPI was 116.9 (1998=100) in March 2006, compared to 114.2 in March 2005. This is equivalent to an increase of 2.4 per cent in the last 12 months, compared to 2.6 per cent in February.

Increase in clothing prices from February to March

After a weak increase in clothing and footwear prices last month, prices rose by 2.8 per cent in March. The prices of clothing went up by 2.8 per cent, while footwear prices increased by 3.0 per cent. However prices have not been able to catch up with December level after the seasonal sales, with prices lying 5.8 per cent under.

After a strong price increase from January to February, prices of electricity increased further by 1.5 per cent from February to March. Despite the dampened growth this month, prices of electricity continued to show an upward trend. An increase of 0.3 per cent was also registered for actual and imputed rentals for housing.

In addition, there was an increase in the license fee on television in March.

Lower prices in audio-visual equipments contributed to dampen the price growth from February to March.

Energy products pull up the CPI in the last 12 months

CPI increased by 2.4 per cent from March 2005 to March 2006. The biggest contributor to the year-to-year growth in March came from energy products. In total, tariffs on electricity increased 25.1 per cent.. Petrol prices showed significant increase in the last twelve months and rose10.4 per cent. CPI excluding energy products (CPI-AE) increased with 1.1 per cent in the same period.

A number of services registered price increases. Health services showed a strong price increase of 8.4 per cent, and services connected to recreation and culture, hotels and transport also got more expencive.

Prices of audio-visual equipments and social protection services fell by 7.9 and 11.3 per cent, respectively, contributing to dampen the CPI growth.

Fall in the year-to-year growth

The year-to-year growth in CPI fell 0.2 percentage points from February to March. The decrease was mainly caused by the price development in clothing and footwear. This group had a weaker price increase this year, compared to the general price increase of 4.8 per cent at the same time last year.

The year-to-year growth in CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) were 2.2 per cent in March, a decrease in the year-to-year growth from February. The year-to-year growth in CPI adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) was 0.9 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from February.