Consumer Price Indices - Basic Information

The month-on-month consumer price fluctuations were insignificant in the majority of the divisions of the consumer basket. The drop in prices (-0.1%) was influenced mainly by the decrease in prices in ‘transport’ and ‘recreation and culture’.

Prices of automotive fuel went down (-1.2%) in November after a strong rise in October. In ‘recreation and culture’, the fall in prices was caused by a seasonal price reduction in package holidays by -1.9%. The seasonal decrease in prices (-7.3%) was recorded for therapeutic stays at spas like in previous year.

The moderate rise in prices in ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ was influenced mainly by the increase in prices of fresh vegetables by 5.1% and prices of fruit by 1.9% after the drop that lasted for four months. Prices of milk, cheese, butter and some non-alcoholic beverages were higher moderately. On the other hand, prices of meat including preserved or processed meat dropped by 0.2%, of which prices of pork by 1.0% after a five months rise. Prices of bread and cereals, flour, rice, oils, sugar, cocoa and coffee went down, too. In ‘clothing and footwear’, prices of winter kinds of cloth and footwear increased moderately. In ‘restaurants and hotels’, prices in catering services provided by restaurants went up, while prices of accommodation services dropped.

In total, prices of goods and services decreased (both -0.1%).

In terms of year-on-year comparison, consumer prices grew by 2.9%, which was by 0.6 percentage points down on October. A strong slowdown in the y-o-y rise in the consumer price level was primarily brought about by the marked reduction in the growth of prices in ‘food and non-alcoholic prices’ from 2.4% in October to 0.4% in November. This change was caused by a slowdown in the y-o-y rise in prices of bread and cereals to 2.3% in November from 13.3% in October due mainly to the strong rise in prices in November 2003. The y-o-y increase in price of sugar dropped to 34.8% in November (from 40.8% in October) and the fall in prices of vegetable became deeper to 22.3% (from 18.6%). In ‘transport’, the rise in prices of automotive fuel slowed down to 13.7% (from 14.3% in October).

The highest growth of consumer prices continued in ‘Post and telecommunication’, as a consequence of a change of the VAT rate for public telecommunication services. Similarly, in ‘restaurants and hotels’, prices in public catering increased by 7.9%, mineral water by 10.7%, in canteens by 11.4% and in canteens in schools by 6.1%. Again, lower were also prices of clothing and footwear, household appliances, detergents, bicycles, mobile phones, equipment for the reception, recording and reproduction of pictures and sound.

In total, prices of goods went up by 1.0% and prices of services by 6.1%.

Inflation rate, i.e. an increase in the average consumer price index for last 12 months related to the average CPI for the preceding 12 months, amounted to 2.7% in November.

According to preliminary data of Eurostat, the year-on-year increase in the average harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) in the EU25 in October 2004 reached 2.3 % (0.2 percentage points up on September). The acceleration in a rise was recorded for most of the EU Member States. The biggest acceleration of the year-on-year increase was recorded for prices in Luxembourg and Belgium (by 1.0 and 0.9 percentage points, respectively). The highest growth of prices was observed in Latvia (+7.2 %), the lowest in Finland (+0.6%). Prices increased by 6.3% in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, the y-o-y HICP growth reached +2.6 % in November (in October +3.1%). According to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the y-o-y HICP increase for the Euro-zone in November 2004 was 2.2%.

Note
Contact: Marie Huskova, phone (+420) 274054104, e-mail: huskova@gw.czso.cz
Data source: CZSO survey
End of data collection: 20th day of the reference month
End of data processing: 3rd day of the month that follows each reference month
The data are final.
Related publications: 7101-04 Consumer Price Indices – Basic Information; 7103-04 Consumer Price Indices – Detailed Information (Internet: https://csu.gov.cz )