Finland: Inflation eases in January from December
Latest reading: Harmonized consumer prices rose 1.1% on a year-on-year basis in January, following a 1.7% increase in the prior month. January’s reading was the weakest since September 2024, and the first to use the newly chosen base year of 2025 in its calculation.
Relative to the prior month’s figures, there were reduced price pressures for food and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.7% on a year-on-year basis vs +2.0% in December), transportation (-0.2% vs 0.0% in December), housing and utilities (+0.6% vs +1.4% in December), recreation (+1.6% vs +2.4% in December) and restaurants and hotels (+2.1% vs +2.3% in December).
In January, the reduced VAT tax rate—which is applicable to food, medicines, public transport and restaurant services—was reduced by 0.5 percentage points to 13.5%. Excise duties on petrol and fuel were also trimmed. Meanwhile, taxes on alcoholic beverages were hiked by an average of 9%, while tobacco taxes rose by 37% and will continue rising every six months until mid-2027.
Meanwhile, consumer prices fell 0.2% on a year-on-year basis in January, following a 0.2% rise in the previous month.
Lastly, harmonized consumer prices were down 0.12% in January in month-on-month terms, following a 0.24% increase in the prior month.