17 March, 2000
Inquiries: Mr Eero Koljonen +358 9 1734 3472, Ms
Sonja Kuusisto +358 9 1734 3469 thi.tilastokeskus@stat.fi
Director in charge: Mr Jarmo Hyrkkö
Import prices risen by over 14 per cent in the year
According to Statistics Finland, import prices rose by 14.6 per cent in the year to February 2000. This continued to be due to rises in the world market price of crude oil, but there were also increases in the prices of oil products, basic industrial chemicals and colour metals. From January to February import prices rose by 2.0 per cent.
Export prices also continued to rise. From January to February export prices rose by 2.1 per cent and in the year to February 2000 they went up by 6.0 per cent. The rise was mainly due to increases in the prices of oil products, base metals, pulp, paper and board.
Producer prices for manufactured goods, that is producer prices for goods intended for the domestic market, went up by 0.9 per cent from January to February and by 6.8 per cent in the year to February 2000. The biggest increases occurred in the prices of pulp, paper and oil products.
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Month-on-month and year-on-year changes of producer price indices in February 2000, % (1995=100) |
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|
Indices |
Point figure |
Change, % |
Change, % |
|
Producer price index for manufactured goods |
102.3 |
0.9 |
6.8 |
|
Export price index |
98.2 |
2.1 |
6.0 |
|
Import price index |
107.0 |
2.0 |
14.6 |
|
Basic price index for domestic supply |
104.5 |
1.2 |
8.1 |
|
Wholesale price index |
104.7 |
1.2 |
7.8 |
Producer price indices measure the development of commodity prices from enterprises' viewpoint. The basic price index for domestic supply measures the development of prices exclusive of tax of goods used in Finland as they enter the market. The wholesale price index measures the change in the purchase prices of goods used in Finland inclusive of tax. Both these indices contain domestic and imported goods.
The HWWA Index, used to measure the dollar-based world market prices of raw materials, rose by 64.6 per cent in the year to February 2000. From January to February the Index went up by 4.1 per cent, mainly due to higher price of crude oil.
Source: Producer Price Indices 2000, February. Statistics Finland