Sweden Inflation Eases To 7.5%, Lowest In 15 Months

(RTTNews) - Sweden's consumer price inflation moderated in August to the lowest level in more than a year, primarily due to a plunge in electricity prices, data from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.

The consumer price index rose 7.5 percent year-over-year in August, slower than July's stable rate of increase of 9.3 percent. Economists had forecast inflation to ease to 7.7 percent.

Further, this was the weakest inflation rate since May last year, when prices had risen 7.3 percent.

Data showed that the consumer price index with a fixed interest rate also increased at a slower pace of 4.7 percent annually in August versus 6.4 percent growth in the prior month. The expected rate was 4.9 percent.

Electricity prices were 36.8 percent lower in August compared to August last year, which contributed to a decrease in the inflation rate, the agency said.

The annual price growth for food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 9.0 percent in August from 10.5 percent in the previous month.

Clothing prices were 7.8 percent more expensive compared to last year, while transport costs increased at an accelerated rate of 5.0 percent.

Month-on-month, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent after remaining flat in July. Prices were expected to increase by 0.2 percent.

The CPIF dropped 0.1 percent versus a 0.2 percent decrease a month ago.