Price index of first-hand domestic sales, 15 February 2012

The PIF rose by 1.3 per cent from January to February 2012. The increase was to a large part due to higher energy prices and higher prices of food products. Prices within mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials rose by 5.1 per cent, first and foremost because electricity prices shot up more than 17 per cent. Prices of food products also increased in this period, up 0.9 per cent from January to February. For several groups of food such as vegetables and fruit, dairy products, meat and meat preparations as well as cereals and cereal preparations, prices increased both on the domestic market and for imported goods.

Twelve-month change: PIF rose by 0.5 per cent

The PIF rose by 0.5 per cent from February 2011 to February 2012. This was mainly due to an increase of 2.2 per cent in prices of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. However, within this commodity group, prices of petroleum and petroleum products increased 13 per cent, and this was the main reason behind the increase in the PIF during the period. Electricity prices on the other hand showed a downturn of 22.5 per cent during the same period.