Consumer Price Indices - Basic Information
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Acceleration of inflation
Consumer price indices - June 2005
The month-on-month increase in the price level (+0.6 %) was influenced most by an increase in prices of public telecommunication services by +16.6 %, which was due to changes in lump fees for residential telephone lines to keep them in operation. In ‘transport’, the increase in prices of automotive fuel continued and amounted to +1.9 % in June. Prices of package holidays rose because of the start of the summer season (by +2.6 %) in ‘recreation and culture’. The growth of food prices was affected by the marked rise in prices of potatoes by +89.7 % due to the changeover of the offer on the market from old to new potatoes. Prices of meat, bread and cereals were moderately higher. On the other hand, prices of both fresh vegetables and fruit decreased by –3.1 % identically. In ‘health’, prices of drugs rose by +0.8 %, in particular.
In total, prices of goods rose by +0.3 % and services by +1.2 %.
In terms of year-on-year comparison, consumer prices growth accelerated to +1.8 % in June (from +1.3 % in May), which is the highest y-o-y rise in prices since January 2005. The rise in prices of public telecommunication services by +15.0 % (the drop by –1.3 % in May) caused the increase in the level of consumer prices. The price development in ‘transport’ changed from the decrease to growth due to higher prices of automotive fuel by +2.7 %, in particular. The year-on-year rise in prices in ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ accelerated slightly due to slowdown in the drop in prices of potatoes, which despite their considerable month-on-month increase remained y-o-y by –20.6 % lower than in June 2004 (the fall by –57.0 % in May). Prices of fruit were higher by +4.1 %, meat by +2.5 % (of which particularly prices of beef by +7.3 %), oils and fats by +1.2 %, sugar by +17.1 %. Prices of fresh vegetables were particularly lower by –1.2 %, bread and cereals by –2.7 %, eggs by –18.7 %, non-alcoholic beverages by –2.0 %. The growth of prices in ‘housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ was the same as in the previous month and amounted to +4.0 %.
In total, prices of goods went up by +0.6 % y-o-y and prices of services were higher by +3.7 %.
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 +2.4 % in June.
According to preliminary data of Eurostat, the year-on-year increase in the average harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) in the EU25 reached +1.9 % in May 2005 (-0.2 percentage points on April). The slowdown was recorded for the majority of the EU 25. The highest y-o-y price growth was observed in Latvia (+6.5 %) and the lowest in Sweden (+0.2 %). In Slovakia, the rise in prices slowed down to +2.3 % in May (from +2.5 % in April). Germany was only one of a few EU countries, in which prices increased faster in May (+1.6 %) than in April (+1.4 %). In the Czech Republic, the y-o-y HICP growth reached +1.3 % in June 2005 (after the lowest increase by +0.9 % in May 2005). According to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the y-o-y HICP increase for the Euro-zone was +2.1 % in June 2005.
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 )