Over the past year, the consumer price index has increased by 7%, data from Statistics Estonia show. The last time the rise was so high was in December 2008.
The consumer price index fell by 0.2% compared to September 2021, but rose by 7% compared to October 2020. Goods were 6% and services 8.9% more expensive than in October last year.
Viktoria Trasanov, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, compared to October 2020, the consumer price index was affected the most by transport-related price changes, which contributed slightly over a third of the total rise in the index.
“Petrol was 25.5% and diesel fuel 40.4% more expensive, while vehicles became 12.4% more expensive, of which 60% was caused by the higher prices of used cars,” noted Trasanov.
The price changes of housing services contributed slightly under a third of the total index change.
The electricity that reached homes was 41.4%, pipeline gas 52.4% and rent 11.7% more expensive.
Among food products, the biggest increase compared to October 2020 was recorded in the prices of potatoes (+61.9%), low-fat milk (+13.5%) and fresh fish (+13.1%).
The last time that the year-on-year change of the consumer price index was 7% or higher was in December 2008 when it was also 7%.
Compared to September, the biggest impact on the consumer price index came from the 19% lower price of electricity that reached homes – two thirds of this price decrease resulted from the government’s decision to compensate 50% of the network service fees to all consumers via distribution network operators.
The increased prices of motor fuel also had a bigger impact on the index change, as diesel fuel was 8% and petrol 6.1% more expensive than in September. (ERR/Business World Magazine)