Consumer Price Indices - Basic Information

The month-on-month rise of the price level by 0.4% owed mainly to the price increase in ‘recreation and culture‘, in which prices of package holidays rose by 14.1% (domestic holidays by 6.5% and holidays abroad by 16.1%) similarly as in the previous years. In 'housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels', net actual rentals went up by 1.9% for dwellings with regulated rentals and prices of natural gas by 1.6%. The rise in prices of tobacco products, which reached 2.0% in July, continued. The growth of prices of automotive fuel slowed down to 0.8%. In ‘restaurants and hotels‘, prices of accommodation services went up by 0.6%. Prices of some kinds of food were higher too, for instance the prices of pork by 1.5%, poultry by 2.4%, milk by 1.9%, sugar by 1.9%.

A downward effect on price development came from the fall in prices for 'clothing and footwear' (by 2.1% and 2.7%, respectively) due to the summer sales of goods. The drop in food prices was brought about primarily by price reduction of potatoes by 21.1%, vegetables grown for fruit by 5.7%, bread and cereals by 0.7%. In ‘health‘, amounts paid by patients for drugs with prescription dropped by 2.0% and prices of stays at spas by 1.1%.

Prices of goods in total decreased by 0.1% and prices of services went up by 1.0%.

In terms of year-on-year comparison, in July 2007, the increase in consumer prices was 2.3%, i.e. 0.2 percentage point down compared to June 2007. A turn in the y-o-y development of prices was recorded in ‘transport‘, ‘communications‘ and ‘recreation and culture‘, in which a y-o-y decrease in prices was recorded in July after a y-o-y rise in June. In ‘transport‘, the growth of prices of other services in respect of transport slowed down from 5.0% in June to 1.8% in July. It was brought about by the introduction of a separate charge for a skilled aptitude test for car driving in July 2006. The decrease in prices of automotive fuel deepened to 2.5% (from 1.7% in June). In ‘communications‘, the drop of prices was due to an increase in prices in July 2006 as a result of termination of commercial discounts. In ‘recreation and culture‘, prices of package holidays were higher y-o-y by only 0.1% on average (by 2.9% in June) in spite of their marked m-o-m increase.

Further acceleration of price increase was recorded in ‘alcoholic beverages, tobacco‘, where the tobacco product prices went up by 19.3% (from 16.9% in June). In ‘housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels‘, net actual rentals went up by 14.1% for dwellings with regulated rentals (from 12.0% in June). The fall in prices of natural gas slowed down to 6.7% (from 8.2% in June). Hence the decisive impact of ‘alcoholic beverages, tobacco‘ and ‘housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels‘ on the y-o-y price development strengthened.

Prices of electricity and solid fuels rose (by 7.9% and 18.1%, respectively). Water supply went up by 6.7% and sewerage collection by 5.5%. The increase in food prices was affected particularly by higher prices of bread and cereals by 4.0% and prices of fruit by 12.4%.

Prices of goods in total grew by 2.1% and prices of services by 2.7%.

Inflation rate, i.e. the increase in the average consumer price index in the twelve months to July 2007 compared with the average CPI in the previous twelve months, stood at 2.1% in July (the same as in May and June 2007).

According to preliminary data of Eurostat, the year-on-year increase in the average harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) in the EU 27 member states was 2.1% in June (the same as in May). The highest annual rates were observed in Latvia (8.9%) and Hungary (8.5%), and the lowest rates in Belgium, France, Denmark and Sweden (identically 1.3%). In Malta, they were 0.6% down compared to June 2006. The growth of consumer prices in Slovakia amounted to 1.5% in June (the same as in May). The price level in Germany rose by 2.0% (the same as in the previous three months).

According to preliminary calculations, the HICP in the Czech Republic in July 2007 increased by 0.3% month-on-month and decelerated to 2.5% (from 2.6% in June 2007) year-on-year. The MUICP (Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices) flash estimate for the Eurozone in July 2007 was 1.8% y-o-y, as Eurostat announced.