Inflation in Estonia highest in Europe in December

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Lukasz Radziejewski / Unsplash

According to statistics from Eurostat, Estonia ranked first for inflation in the month of December – with an inflation rate year on year of 12 per cent. This compares to 3.2 per cent in Finland and 7.7 per cent in Latvia (who ranked 3^rd on the list).

The biggest driver of this inflation is the increase in the price of energy, which has risen by an astounding 26 per cent on December last year. As part of this, petrol prices have increased by 25.5 per cent and diesel by 29.4 per cent. That’s not all, prices for services have also increased hugely since last December, with a 20.7 per cent rise. 

On the whole, the rise in food prices of 7.9 per cent may not seem so large. However, certain items have risen hugely. For example, the price of fresh vegetables has risen by 26.7 per cent and fresh fish by 35.2. But eclipsing both of these is the rise in the price of potatoes – a staple of Estonian cuisine – that have increased by more the 110 per cent.

According to analyst Kristo Aab from LHV, “In the first months of this year, price growth is likely to remain as fast”. However, this is expected to slow in the spring and into the summer as energy prices begin to fall.

Source ERR and ERR and ERR

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Energy Prices Estonia Europe Food Inflation Kristo Aab LHV Price Rise