Sweden Inflation Eases Slightly To 10.5%, Lowest In 8 Months

(RTTNews) - Sweden's consumer price inflation eased for the second straight month in April amid a slowdown in the price growth of food products, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Monday.

The consumer price index rose 10.5 percent year-over-year in April, slightly slower than the 10.6 percent increase in March. Economists had forecast inflation to rise to 10.7 percent.

The latest inflation rate was the lowest since August 2022, when prices had risen 9.8 percent.

The central bank expects inflation to rise to 8.6 percent in 2023, before easing sharply to 3.6 percent next year.

Data showed that the consumer price index with a fixed interest rate increased at a slower pace of 7.6 percent annually in April, following an 8.0 percent gain in March. The expected increase was 10.7 percent.

The annual price growth for food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 16.86 percent in April from 19.65 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile, utility costs grew at a faster rate of 17.41 percent.

Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in April, after a 0.6 percent rebound in the prior month. That was above the 0.7 percent rise expected by economists. Similarly, the CPIF moved up 0.2 percent versus a forecast of 0.5 percent.