STOCKHOLM (dpa-AFX) - Sweden's consumer price inflation accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in August to reach its highest level in more than thirty-one years, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Wednesday.
Consumer prices climbed 9.8 percent year-over-year in August, following an 8.5 percent increase in July. Economists had forecast an inflation rate of 9.6 percent.
The latest inflation was the highest since June 1991, when prices had grown 10.1 percent.
The upward trend in inflation was largely driven by a 51.4 percent jump in electricity costs. This was followed by a 28.2 percent surge in fuel prices.
Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages grew 14.0 percent from last year, and those for restaurants and hotels rose 9.7 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up 1.8 percent in August, well above July's 0.1 percent increase. That was in line with expectations.
Inflation, based on the CPI with fixed interest rate or CPIF, also rose to 9.0 percent in August from 8.0 percent in the preceding month. The expected rate of increase was 8.8 percent.
Further, this was the strongest inflation rate since July 1991.
Compared to the previous month, the CPIF increased 1.5 percent in August, reversing a 0.2 percent fall in July. That was just above the expected increase of 1.4 percent.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News
