Consumer price index, June 2015

The CPI was 140.0 (1998=100) in June 2015, compared to 136.4 in June 2014, which corresponds to a year-to-year growth of 2.6 per cent.

Monthly change: increased airfares and higher prices of fuels and food

The CPI rose 0.3 per cent from May to June. The most important contributor to the increase was the prices of airline tickets, which rose by around 18 per cent, especially fuelled by increased fares for international destinations. This sharp increase has to be viewed in conjunction with the time of measure, which was around the start of the school summer holiday. Prices of fuels and lubricants rose 4.7 per cent from May to June; the highest monthly increase rate since June 2009. Auto diesel and petrol had almost identical increase rates.

Food prices rose 1.0 per cent last month, and every food sub-group showed an increase in prices – the largest impact was caused by rising prices on chocolate products. Prices on non-alcoholic beverages went up 2.0 per cent in the same period, largely due to a 4.3 per cent increase in prices of coffee products.

The CPI increase was mainly dampened by lower prices of electricity. Prices of electricity including grid rent fell for the fifth consecutive month, and now stand at their lowest level for almost three years. This months’ price cut of almost 8 per cent is the highest price cut ever recorded in June. Heavy rain and melting snow may explain the development in the electricity prices. Other consumption groups that also contributed to dampening the CPI increase were price decreases for furniture, clothing and tools and goods for house and garden.

Year-to-year growth: higher prices of food and transportation

The CPI rose 2.6 per cent from June 2014 to June 2015. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages combined rose 4.2 per cent in the last twelve months. Food had a price increase of 3.7 per cent, where higher prices on fruit and sugar goods contributed the most. Beverage prices went up 7.2 per cent, mainly due to higher prices on soft drinks, coffee and juice.

The increased prices of transportation combined were mainly caused by a rise in airfares by 33.5 per cent. Fares for transportation by bus and boat have also risen above last year’s CPI average.

The year-to-year price increase of furniture and furnishings was almost 11 per cent, while prices of books, newspapers and stationary rose more than 10 per cent.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI was mainly dampened by lower electricity prices, which fell 3.8 per cent from June last year to June this year. Prices of fuels and lubricants are still, despite solid growth from May to June, 1.9 per cent lower in June this year than in June last year. CPI excluding energy products (CPI-AE) rose 3.1 per cent in the last twelve months, which means that energy prices lowered the CPI growth by 0.5 percentage points. Prices of telecom services and clothing fell 3.2 and 1.2 per cent respectively.

Change in the year-to-year growth: strong increase in CPI growth rate

The year-to-year growth in the CPI went up from 2.1 per cent in May to 2.6 per cent in June. This increased growth rate is mainly due to the price development in airfares, food and fuels. Airfares rose more than 18 per cent from May to June this year, while falling almost 7 per cent in the same period last year. This price development has to be viewed in conjunction with the time of measure, as described above. Food prices rose 1 per cent last month, while falling 0.5 per cent in the same period the previous year. Prices of fuels and lubricants had a similar price development; increasing almost 5 per cent from May to June this year, while dropping slightly in the same period last year.

The price development of electricity pulled in the opposite direction; decreasing 7.7 per cent from May to June this year compared to a 1.5 per cent decrease in the same period last year.

The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE was 3.2 per cent in June; an increase of 0.8 percentage points from May. This was mainly due to the aforementioned price development in airfares and food.