Consumer price index, 15 March 2007

The CPI was 118.2 (1998=100) per March 2007 compared to 116.9 in the same period last year, which is equivalent to a growth of 1.1 per cent, up from 0.8 per cent in February. The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE was 1.5 per cent in March, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from February.

Increased clothing prices from February to March

After a price increase of 1.5 per cent in clothing and footwear in February, prices rose by 5.4 per cent in March. Clothing prices registered an increase of 5.9 per cent, a stronger increase compared to footwear prices that went up 3.2 per cent. Despite price increases in February and March, prices have not caught up after seasonal sales. The prices of clothing and footwear in March were still 5.0 per cent under the December price level.

Petrol prices rose by 2.9 per cent and contributed to the growth in the March CPI. Other factors that contributed to the price increase were telephone equipments that showed a strong increase and non-alcoholic beverages that went up by 2.8 per cent. In addition, license fee on television increased in March.

After a persistent price fall from September last year, the prices of electricity fell again from February to March by 2.5 per cent. Electricity prices in March were 34.2 per cent under the September price level.

Low price growth in the last twelve months

CPI increased by 1.1 per cent from March 2006 to March 2007. Strongest contributions came from prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages and from products and services connected to repair and maintenance of dwellings with an increase of 2.8 and 5.2 per cent, respectively.

Other important contributors to the year-to-year growth in CPI came from price increases in different services. Prices connected to recreation and culture services rose by 7.2 per cent, transport services increased by 4.0 per cent, while accommodation prices went up by 10.9 per cent. In addition, prices connected to repair and maintenance of personal transport equipment increased by 6.5 per cent.

Similar to last month's development, prices of electricity in March contributed to reduce the year-to-year growth in the CPI. Electricity prices were 14.9 per cent lower compared to the same time last year. The growth in CPI adjusted for electricity (CPI-AEL) was 1.7 per cent.

With a price fall of 4.4 per cent, clothing prices also contributed to dampen the CPI growth in the last twelve months. Prices of telephone services and audio-visual equipments with a decrease of 8.0 and 6.9 per cent, respectively, also gave the same effect.

Increase in the year-to-year growth in CPI and CPI-ATE

The year-to-year growth in the CPI increased from 0.8 per cent in February to 1.1 per cent in March. The increase can be attributed mainly to the development in clothing prices. As mentioned, clothing prices went up by 5.9 per cent in March this year, a stronger increase compared to March last year. Similarly, petrol prices also showed a strong increase in March this year compared to March last year. Other important contributions to the price increase came from prices of telephone equipments and products related to repair and maintenance of dwellings.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE went from 1.1 to 1.5 per cent, while CPI adjusted for tax changes (CPI-AT) increased from 0.6 to 0.9 per cent from February to March 2007.

CPI and CPI-ATE seasonally adjusted

From the publishing of the April index, the 10^{t h} of May, seasonally adjusted CPI and CPI-ATE, will be published in the StatBank.