Inflation reduces to 0.5% in October

The year-on-year change in consumer prices calculated by Statistics Finland was 0.5 per cent in October. In September, inflation stood at 0.8 per cent. The drop in inflation from September to October was caused, for example, by a milder rise in fuel prices.

Consumer prices were raised most in October from one year ago by increases in the consumer prices of the vehicle tax, electricity, cigarettes and rents.

The rising of consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of mobile phones and used cars, as well as decreases in housing loan interest rates. From September to October, consumer prices changed by -0.0 per cent.

Each mid-month, Statistics Finland's interviewers collect altogether around 50,000 prices on nearly 470 commodities from approximately 2,700 outlets for the Consumer Price Index. In addition, some 1,000 items of price data are gathered by centralised collection.

According to the preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the rate of inflation in the euro area was 1.4 per cent in October. In September, it stood at 1.5 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland was 0.5 per cent in October.