Finland Inflation Steady At 9.14%

(RTTNews) - Finland's consumer price inflation was stable in December, underpinned by an increase in the prices of electricity and diesel and higher lending rates, preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed on Friday.

Inflation was 9.14 percent in December, unchanged from November.

Overall inflation in December was driven by a rise in the price of electricity, the average interest rate on housing loans and consumer credits, and the price for diesel from a year ago, the agency said.

The rise in consumer prices from a year ago was curbed the most by a reduction in the price of non-refundable prescription medicines.

Compared to the previous month, consumer prices dropped 0.06 percent in December, after a 1.21 percent growth in the prior month. Prices fell for the first time since December 2021.

The latest monthly decline was mainly due to lower prices for petrol and diesel.

The EU measure of the harmonized index, or HICP, rose 8.8 percent annually in December and declined 0.4 percent from a month ago.

The annual average inflation was 7.1 percent in 2022.