Finland Times

The inflation rate has been reduced to 1.6 percent in the country in last month, which was 2.4 percent in the December 2012, according to Statistics Finland.

The report of Statistics Finland showed that the inflation was held back above all because the rising of retail alcohol and fuel prices eased off. 

In January, consumer prices were pushed up most from the previous year by risen prices of food and transport. Food prices went up most due to higher prices of meat, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Transport prices increased mainly due to the raised vehicle tax.

 Increases in prices of restaurant and café services, in rents and in tobacco prices similarly had a great impact on inflation. The rising of consumer prices was curbed most in January by fallen interest rates and prices of telecommunication services from the year before. From December to January, consumer prices fell by 0.1 per cent despite the raised value added tax.

Statistics Finland collected  interviews around 50,000 on prices of 486 commodities from approximately 2,700 outlets for the Consumer Price Index. In addition, some 1,000 items of price data are gathered by centralised collection. 

According to preliminary data, inflation in the euro area was 2.0 per cent in January, which was 2.2 percent in December 2012.