Food prices pulled the CPI down in Norway in December
Staff Writer |
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.5 percent from November to December 2016. The year-to-year growth in the CPI was 3.5 percent in December, unchanged from November.
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The year-to-year CPI-ATE growth was 2.5 percent in December, down 0.1 percentage points from November.
The CPI was 146.0 (1998=100) in December 2016, compared to 141.1 in December 2015, which corresponds to a year-to-year growth of 3.5 percent. Annual growth in the CPI was 3.6 percent for 2016, while it was 3.0 percent for the annual CPI-ATE.
From November to December, the CPI fell 0.5 percent, partly due to a continued fall in the prices of food. For the fifth consecutive month the prices of food fell; from November to December the prices decreased 3.1 percent.
It was mainly discounts in connection with Christmas that caused the fall, where particularly products such as chocolate, meats, Norwegian agricultural products and fruit showed large price decreases.
Electricity prices including grid rent fell 5.3 percent from November to December, due to milder temperatures and higher production in December, combined with a scarcer resource situation in November.
The prices of clothes fell 1.1 percent in the period, while airfares fell 4.3 percent.
The decline in the CPI was mainly dampened by the price development of fuels and lubricants. Petrol prices were 1.5 percent higher in December than in November, while prices of diesel were 2.3 percent higher. Also prices of furniture and furnishings dampened the CPI with a 1.8 percent price increase in the period.
From December 2015 to December 2016, the CPI grew 3.5 percent. Higher electricity prices were the main contributor to the year-to-year growth; prices on electricity including grid rent showed a year-to-year increase of 28.9 percent in December.
The CPI excluding electricity (CPI-AEL) increased by 2.8 percent from December 2015 to December 2016, hence electricity prices pulled the year-to-year growth in the CPI up by 0.7 percentage points.
A 2.0 percent fall in the prices of imported agricultural products was the main dampening component for the year-to-year growth. Particularly the prices of fruit contributed with a price decrease of 6.1 percent from December 2015 to December 2016.
The year-to-year growth in the CPI was 3.5 percent in December, unchanged from November.
The year-to-year growth in the CPI-ATE was 2.5 percent in December, down 0.1 percentage points from November. One reason being the development of airfares which increased 4.6 percent from November to December 2015, while fell 4.3 percent the same period in 2016. ■