Home > News > News and press releases > Press releases 2001 > Inflation dwindled to 1.9 per cent in October

14 November 2001

Inquiries: Mr Timo Koskimäki +358 9 1734 3479, Mr Juhani Pekkarinen +358 9 1734 3476
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices: Ms Mari Ylä-Jarkko +358 9 1734 3310
Director in charge: Mr Ilkka Lehtinen

Inflation dwindled to 1.9 per cent in October

According to Statistics Finland, the year-on-year change in consumer prices, i.e. inflation, continued to slow down, for it was 1.9 per cent in October. In September inflation was 2.2 per cent. Inflation decelerated mainly due to reduced prices of liquid fuels and lower interest rates.

Higher food prices raised consumer prices most in the year, i.e. by 0.8 percentage points. Higher rents accounted for 0.3 percentage points of inflation in October. Higher prices of package tours and electricity also increased consumer prices. Lower prices of liquid fuels diminished inflation by 0.8 percentage points and lower interest rates by good 0.2 percentage points from the year before.

From September to October, consumer prices fell by 0.2 per cent, which was mainly caused by reduced prices of petrol and light fuel oil. The fall in interest rates also decreased consumer prices from September to October.

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Inflation indicators in Finland, October 2001
	Point figure	Change on one year	Change on one month
Consumer Price Index (1995=100)	111.5	1.9%	-0.2%
Cost of Living Index (1951:10=100)	1,549
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (1996=100)	110.8	2.4%	-0.1%

Each mid-month, Statistics Finland interviewers collect over 50,000 prices from approximately 2,000 outlets for the Consumer Price Index. In addition, some 600 items of price data are gathered by centralised collection.

According to preliminary data, inflation in EMU countries 2.4 per cent in October

According to preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the rate of inflation in the member countries of the EMU was 2.4 per cent in October. Inflation continued to slow down slightly because in September it was 2.5 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland was also 2.4 per cent in October.

Eurostat has started to issue preliminary data on inflation in the EMU area. The data are based on preliminary data published by Germany and Italy and on price development of energy. Eurostat will publish detailed data on the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices for October on 16 November.

Source: Consumer Price Index 2001, October. Statistics Finland