Sweden Producer Prices Fall Further On Cheaper Energy Costs

(RTTNews) - Sweden's producer prices declined for the second straight month in June amid a continued slump in costs for energy-related products, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Tuesday.

The producer price index dropped 3.1 percent year-on-year in June, faster than the 2.1 percent fall in May. Nonetheless, that was below the 5.9 percent decrease economists had expected.

Prices in the domestic market alone slid 4.9 percent.

Prices for energy-related goods fell sharply by 29.8 percent annually in June. Meanwhile, prices of consumer goods gained 9.3 percent, and those of capital goods climbed 9.4 percent.

Excluding energy-related products, producer price inflation in June was 4.4 percent.

Monthly, producer prices went up 1.0 percent in June versus a 1.7 percent fall seen in the preceding month. This was the first increase in six months.

Data also showed that import prices fell 1.6 percent yearly, and the export price index was 0.6 percent lower.