Home > News > News and press releases > Press releases 2001 > Inflation slowed to 1.6 per cent in November

14 December 2001

Inquiries: Mr Timo Koskimäki +358 9 1734 3479, Ms Tina Telasuo +358 9 1734 2951, 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 slowed to 1.6 per cent in November

According to Statistics Finland, the year-on-year change in consumer prices, i.e. inflation, continued to slow down, for it was 1.6 per cent in November. In October inflation was 1.9 per cent. Inflation decelerated mainly due to reduced prices of liquid fuels and lower interest rates.

Higher food prices raised consumer prices most from the year before, i.e. by 0.7 percentage points. Prices of meat, having risen by over 9 per cent in the year, made up good one third of this. Higher rents accounted for 0.3 percentage points of inflation. Prices of public transport, electricity and package tours also grew from last year's November. In contrast, lower prices of liquid fuels decreased inflation by 0.8 percentage points and lower interest rates by 0.4 percentage points.

From October to November, consumer prices fell by 0.4 per cent, which was mostly due to reduced prices of liquid fuels and the fall in interest rates.

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Inflation indicators in Finland, November 2001
	Point figure	Change on one year	Change on one month
Consumer Price Index (1995=100)	111.0	1.6%	-0.4%
Cost of Living Index (1951:10=100)	1,543
Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (1996=100)	110.4	2.1%	-0.4%

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 2.1 per cent in November

According to preliminary data on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, the rate of inflation in the member countries of the EMU was 2.1 per cent in November. Inflation continued to slow down slightly because in October it was 2.4 per cent. The corresponding figure for Finland was also 2.1 per cent in November.

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 November on 18 December.

Source: Consumer Price Index 2001, November. Statistics Finland