HELSINKI: Finland’s consumer price inflation eased for the first time in five months in January, figures from Statistics Finland showed.
The consumer price index rose 0.8 percent year-over-year in January, slower than the 1.0 percent increase in December, which was the highest inflation rate since November 2014. The measure has been rising since April 2016.
Inflation was mostly driven by increases in the prices of petrol, cigarettes and electricity, and also in the vehicle tax from one year ago, the agency reported.
Transport costs grew 3.7 percent year-on-year, while prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped 2.4 percent. Month-on-month, consumer prices decreased 0.6 percent from November, when it increased by 0.2 percent.
The EU measure of inflation, or HICP, climbed 0.9 percent annually in January, while it declined 0.7 percent from a month ago.