Prices for goods and services have risen by 20% in the past year
Text Mark Taylor
According to the latest data from Statistics Estonia, the consumer price index rose by 20 per cent compared to May 2021. Goods in shops are on average 15.7 per cent and services 28.8 per cent more expensive than this time last year.
“Compared to May 2021, the consumer price index was affected the most by housing-related price changes, which contributed over 40 per cent of the total rise in the index. Electricity that reached homes was 146.3 per cent, heat energy 61.2 per cent, pipeline gas 217.3 per cent, and solid fuels 67.3 per cent more expensive,” explained Viktoria Trasanov, a leading analyst at Statistics Estonia.
Additionally, petrol was 40.7 per cent and diesel fuel 55.3 per cent more expensive. Among food products, the biggest increase compared to May 2021 was recorded in the prices of potatoes (125 per cent), fresh fish (77.2 per cent), other oils (62.3 per cent), eggs (52.8 per cent), and flour of cereals (43.3 per cent).
Compared to April, prices increased by a further 1.9 per cent in the month of May, with housing related price rises again driving the biggest proportion of the rises.
The consumer price index (CPI), is a measure of the change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services over a set period of time.