Consumer price indices - inflation - April 2021

Consumer prices in April increased by 0.5% compared with March. This development came primarily from price rise in 'alcoholic beverages, tobacco' and in 'food and non-alcoholic beverages'. The year-on-year growth of consumer prices amounted to 3.1% in April, which was 0.8 percentage points up on March.
 

Month-on-month comparison

Price increase in 'alcoholic beverages, tobacco' came mainly from higher prices of tobacco products by 1.9% and spirits by 2.4%. In 'food and non-alcoholic beverages', prices of vegetables went up by 10.9%, pork by 4.4%, oils and fats by 2.8%. Prices of fruit decreased by 4.9%. In 'transport', prices of automotive fuels and lubricants increased by 2.9% and motor cars by 0.3%. Price rise in 'furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance' was influenced mainly by higher prices of goods and services for routine household maintenance by 1.6%.

Prices of goods in total went up by 1.0% and prices of services remained at the same level as in March.
 

Year-on-year comparison

Consumer prices increased by 3.1% in April, i.e. 0.8 percentage points up on March. This acceleration in the year-on-year price growth came mainly from prices in 'transport', where prices of automotive fuels and lubricants increased by 16.3% (increase by 1.1% in March), mainly due to their month-on-month drop in April 2020 (decrease by 10.5%). In 'alcoholic beverages, tobacco', price rise of spirits accelerated to 5.1% (increase by 1.3% in March), beer to 8.5% (increase by 4.4% in March) and tobacco products to 19.5% (increase by 17.5% in March). Prices of wine turned from a decrease by 3.1% in March into rise by 1.0% in April.

The biggest influence on the growth of the year-on-year price level in April came again from prices in 'alcoholic beverages and tobacco' (increase by 13.0%). Next in the order of influence were prices in 'transport' with year-on-year growth by 9.1%, where prices of motor cars grew up by 8.4%. In 'housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’, prices of actual rentals for housing increased by 1.5%, water supply by 1.9% and sewage collection by 2.3%. Prices of electricity decreased by 3.4% and natural gas by 4.7%. In 'miscellaneous goods and services', prices of financial services were higher by 8.8%. A reduction in the overall price level in April came from prices in 'food and non-alcoholic beverages', where prices of pork were lower by 7.2%, year-on-year, vegetables by 3.4%, of which prices of potatoes decreased by 26.6%.

Prices of goods in total and services went up (3.3% and 2.8%, respectively). The overall consumer price index excluding imputed rentals for housing was 103.1%, year-on-year.

Inflation rate, i.e. the increase in the average consumer price index in the twelve months to April 2021 compared with the average CPI in the previous twelve months, amounted to 2.8%.
 

Harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) ¹⁾

According to preliminary calculations, the HICP in Czechia in April went up by 0.6%, month-on-month and 3.1%, year-on-year. According to flash estimates of Eurostat, the MUICP (Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices) in April 2021 amounted to 1.6% year-on-year (1.3 in March). In Slovakia, prices were higher by 1.7% in April and in Germany by 2.1%, year-on-year. According to preliminary data of Eurostat, the year-on-year change in the average harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) in the EU27 member states amounted to 1.7% in March (0.4 percentage point up on February). The rise in prices was the highest in Poland (4.4%). On the other hand, price reduction occurred only in Greece (−2.0%).

(More information on the Eurostat’s web pages: HICP.)

Methodological note to consumer price index in April 2021 (COVID-19)
 

¹⁾ Imputed rentals are excluded from the HICP.

Notes:
Responsible manager of the CZSO: Jiri Mrazek, Director of Price Statistics Department, email: jiri.mrazek@csu.gov.cz
Contact: Pavla Sediva, Head of the Consumer Price Statistics Unit, phone (+420) 274052138, email: pavla.sediva@csu.gov.cz
Data source: Direct field survey of prices, centrally surveyed prices and reporting
End of data collection: 20th day of the reference month / End of data processing: 3rd day of the month that follows the reference month
Related publications: 012018-21 Consumer Price Indices – Basic Breakdown (periodicity: monthly), 012023-21 Consumer price Indices – Detailed Breakdown (periodicity: monthly) and 012019-21 Consumer Price Indices – Detailed Breakdown (periodicity: annually)
Internet: https://csu.gov.cz/inflation-consumer-prices
Next News Release: 10 June 2021
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