Slight acceleration in inflation due to rising house prices

Consumer prices rose by 0.7 per cent in the year to October and by 0.2 per cent from September to October. The slight acceleration in inflation is accounted for by the rise in house prices in the third quarter and by higher prices of petrol and light fuel oil.

Price development in the year to October

The sharpest rise over the year occurred in beverages and tobacco and in health care. The single most important factor boosting inflation was, however, the increased price of petrol, accounting for 0.6 percentage points of the inflation. The rise in house prices, in turn, had an inflationary effect of over 0.2 percentage points. The higher prices of light fuel oil, cigarettes, electricity, and increases in rents also fuelled inflation.

Inflation was lowered most by interest rate cuts. Their effect on the inflation was -0.7 percentage points. Cheaper second-hand cars curbed inflation by 0.3 percentage points. Food was 1.1 per cent cheaper in October than a year ago, which was largely due to lower prices of meat and coffee.

Price development from September to October

Consumer prices rose from September to October by 0.2 per cent. The main contributing factors were the rise in house prices and more expensive petrol and light fuel oil. Prices of package tours also saw a slight increase in October. The rise in prices, in turn, was curbed by interest rate cuts and cheaper food, due to lower prices of fruit and vegetables.

The Consumer Price Index 1990=100 was 113.0 in October.
The Cost of Living Index 1951:10=100 was 1 402.

The EU Harmonised Consumer Price Index

The point figure of the interim harmonised consumer price index of the EU 1994=100 was 102.5 in October and the year-on-year change 1.3 per cent. The change from September to October was 0.2 per cent. In September the change on one year in Finland was 1.2 per cent. This was the second lowest in the EU countries, the lowest being that of Sweden, at 0.6 per cent. The average inflation rate in Member States was 2.4 per cent in September.

Underlying inflation 0,1 per cent in September

The point figure of the Bank of Finland's indicator of underlying inflation 1990=100 was 111,5 in September, and the year-on-year change 0,1 per cent.

Source: Consumer Price Index, October 1996. Statistics Finland
Further information: Arja Kinnunen, tel. +358 9 1734 3479, or
Juhani Pekkarinen +358 9 1734 3476.