Consumer price indices - inflation - July 2004
Acceleration of the increase in consumer prices continued
Publication Date: 09. 08. 2004
Product Code: r-7101-04
The month-on-month increase in consumer prices (+0.4%) was influenced mainly by the rise in ‘recreation and culture’, where seasonal prices of package holidays went up like in the preceding years and reached +17.5% (+16.4% last year). The increase in the price level was affected by higher prices in housing (considering its weight in consumer basket), where actual rentals paid by tenants for cooperative flats and imputed rentals of owner-occupiers increased. The rise in prices of tobacco products continued (+1.1%) due to the change in excise duty in January. A fall in prices in ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ had a reducing effect on prices; it was caused primarily by lower prices of potatoes -42.1% (-43.4% last year), fresh vegetables (-9.0%) and fruit (-3.1%). Higher were particularly prices of meat including meat products (+2.0%), of which prices of pork went up +6.7% and beef +2.9%, and also prices of rice (+5.1%) and sugar (+8.3%). In ‘clothing and footwear’, prices of clothes and footwear went down (-1.4% and -2.4%, respectively) mainly due to lower prices of summer collection. The drop in prices in ‘transport’ was caused mainly by the decrease in prices of automotive fuel (-1.2%) in July after the rise in the four preceding months. In total, prices of goods went down (-0.5%), while prices of services rose (+1.6%).
In terms of year-on-year comparison, consumer prices grew by 3.2%, which was the highest rise since May 2002. The price growth acceleration occurred in ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ and ‘alcoholic beverages, tobacco’. The development in food prices was influenced mainly by acceleration in year-on-year rise in prices of pork (+14.7% from +7.8% in June), tropical fruit (+9.4% from +6.8% in June) and sugar (+25.1% from +15.0% in June). The y-o-y drop in prices of fresh vegetables and fruit of temperate climatic zone moderated (-10.8% and -3.2%, respectively). Prices of bread and cereals were higher (+13.4%), milk, cheese, eggs (+4.8% in average) and oils and fats (+5.3%). The acceleration of year-on-year rise continued in ‘alcoholic beverages, tobacco’ due to an increase in prices of tobacco products (+8.7%). The highest increase was recorded for prices in ‘post and telecommunication’ due to the change in VAT rate in public telecommunication services. In public catering, prices of food in restaurants and canteens went up similarly (+8.0% and +9.2%, respectively). In ‘miscellaneous goods and services,’ prices of financial services were higher by 15.9% and prices of personal services by 17.9%. A decrease of prices was recorded for clothing and footwear, household appliances, detergents, bicycles, mobile phones, equipment for the reception, recording and reproduction of sound and pictures. In total, prices of goods went up by 1.6% and prices of services by 5.9%.
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 1.7% in July (i.e. 0.3 percentage points more than 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 in June 2004 reached 2.4% (like in May). The highest growth of prices was observed in Slovakia (+8.1%) and Hungary (+7.5%), while prices in Finland were 0.1% down on June 2003. The biggest acceleration of the year-on-year increase was recorded for prices in Portugal (+3.7% in June from +2.4% in May) and in Cyprus (+2.4% in June from +1.2% in May); on the other hand, a slowdown in y-o-y growth (from 0.4 to 0.3 percentage points) was observed in Belgium, Hungary and Sweden. In the Czech Republic, the y-o-y growth of the HICP accelerated in July to +3.1% (from +2.7% in June). According to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the y-o-y increase of the HICP for the Euro-zone in July 2004 was 2.4%.
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 the reference month
Related publications: 7101-04 Consumer Price Indices – Basic Information7103-04 Consumer Price Indices – Detailed information
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