“The inflation rate in May was lower than in April, partly due to the fact that price increases from April to May last year are no longer present in the yearly rate. In addition, we noted price decreases from April to May this year, in particular for package holidays,” says Beatrice Ljung, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

In brief

Seasonal patterns and temporary price changes

Price changes on goods and services may be seasonal or temporary. The figure above shows the monthly changes this year and in the two most recent years for the goods and services with the largest impact on the CPIF monthly change.

Prices rose on clothing and operation of personal transport equipment in May, as they did in the same period in the last two years. For package holidays, on the other hand, prices fell sharply during this period, as different from the same period in 2019 and 2020. However, the monthly change in May 2020 was special since no package holidays were available on the market. Therefore, the prices on package holidays were fully imputed using the year-on-year change in non-imputed product groups in the CPI. In May 2021, the price development was based solely on actual departures.

Furthermore, prices decreased on vegetables in May this year, partly due to lower prices on tomatoes and peppers, which rose earlier this year. This was offset somewhat by rising prices for cabbage and carrots, although prices for vegetables overall decreased. Prices for vegetables also fell in May last year, while they increased in the same period in 2019.

Contribution to the inflation rate in May

The inflation rate according to the CPIF, that is, the change in the CPIF over the past 12-month period, was 2.1 percent in May 2021, down from 2.5 percent in April.

The inflation rate was mainly affected by rising housing costs, in which higher prices on electricity accounted for a large part of the upturn. Prices also increased on transport, in particular driven by rising fuel prices. In addition, prices rose on clothing. Electricity, fuel and clothing all noted higher prices in May this year compared with May 2020, which affected the inflation rate.

These price increases were offset by falling prices in the group audio-visual, photographic and information processing equipment, in which prices fell, primarily on TV and computers.

The inflation rate according to the CPIF excluding energy was 1.2 percent in May, down from 1.7 percent in April.

Effects of the coronavirus pandemic on calculations

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, some services in the CPIF basket were unavailable for consumers to purchase in May. As in previous months, prices for these services have been imputed. The share of imputed prices was 0.80 percent in May, unchanged from April. For further information, see the document “Special imputations during the coronavirus pandemic”.

Special imputations during the coronavirus pandemic (pdf)

2021-07-14 at 9:30.