Inflation drops to 5.5% in September

The year-on-year change in consumer prices was 5.5 per cent in September, according to Statistics Finland.

In August, inflation stood at 5.6 per cent. The decrease of inflation from August to September was caused by lower prices of hotel rooms, for example.

Consumer prices were raised most in September by increases in average interest rate on housing loans, consumer credits and the prices of district heat from one year ago.

The rising of consumer prices from one year back was curbed most by reductions in the prices of electricity, real estates and owner-occupied flats.

The month-on-month change of consumer prices was 0.7 per cent, which was caused by increases in prices of electricity and average interest rate on housing loans, for example.

The core inflation of Consumer Price Index was 6.8 per cent. Core inflation does not include food and energy price changes, as the short-term price fluctuations in these are higher compared to other commodity groups.

The price index of electricity was adjusted downward in August 2023. The adjustment does not affect the use of the Consumer Price Index. Officially published figures are always used in index adjustments.

According to the preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the rate of inflation in the euro area was 4.3 per cent in September. In August, it stood at 5.2 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland was 3.0 per cent in September.