Consumer prices take a dive in Norway
Oslo City; the biggest shopping mall in Oslo. Photo: www.oslocity.no.
The CPI decreased by 0.6 per cent from June to July 2009, reports Statistic Norway. The prices of clothing and footwear together with airline fares contributed most to the decline. The year-to-year growth in the CPI was 2.2 per cent in July 2009, while the CPI-ATE increased by 2.5 per cent.
The consumer price index (CPI) was 125.7 as per July 2009 compared to 123.0 in July 2008.
The most important factor was seasonal sales of clothing and footwear, which decreased 5.1 per cent. The prices of airline fares fell by 22.3 per cent, after a sharp increase in June. It was mainly the fares to foreign destinations that fell sharply, while the fares to domestic destinations only dropped slightly. The prices of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables fell by 8.2 and 5.2 per cent respectively and also contributed significantly to the decline in the CPI. The prices of hotel services fell by 12.9 per cent, which can be explained by seasonal variations. Also the prices of fuels fell some and contributed to the decline in the CPI.
The CPI rose by 2.2 per cent from July 2008 to July 2009. Imputed rentals for owner-occupiers increased by 3.4 per cent and were the most important factor to this growth. The prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages together with electricity including grid rent increased by 3.5 and 4.8 per cent respectively from July 2008 to July 2009. Other important contributors were the price development of restaurant services, recreational and cultural services, transport services and health services.
The prices of fuels and lubricants contributed most to dampen the year-to-year growth in CPI, due to a decrease by 10.4 per cent. The prices of telecommunication services fell 11.6 per cent and the prices of clothing and footwear decreased by 2.5 per cent from July 2008 to July 2009.
The price development of electricity and food and non-alcoholic beverages were the most important contributors to lower year-to-year growth. Other important contributors to lower year-to-year growth in the CPI were the price development for airline fares, audio-visual equipment and fuels.
The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE decreased from 3.3 per cent in June 2009 to 2.5 per cent in July 2009.
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