“It is now a year since the pandemic clearly impacted the prices. The sharp drop in prices in April last year is now resulting in an upward effect on the inflation rate,” says Caroline Neander, 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.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices increased in April 2021. As last year, prices on vegetables rose, unlike in same period in 2019, when they fell. Cauliflower and sweet pepper are some of the products that rose sharply in price and contributed to the upturn in this period.

The prices of clothing and footwear increased in April 2021, while in the same period in 2020, prices fell instead. Electricity prices fell in April, as they did in the same period in the last two years. However, prices fell less this year than in 2020.

Prices on newspapers, books and stationery increased in April 2021, as they have done in the last two years and is a seasonal return to normal prices following the annual book sale. Higher prices on popular magazines and subscriptions also provided an upward contribution to the increased rate.

Contribution to the inflation rate in April

The inflation rate according to the CPIF, that is, the change in the CPIF over the past 12-month period, was 2.5 percent in April 2021, up from 1.9 percent in March. In April 2020, the consequences of the pandemic emerged, as prices for fuel, electricity, clothes, accommodation and gyms fell sharply. Inflation then dropped to -0.4 percent. The exceedingly low prices during the comparison period then had an upward effect on the inflation rate in April 2021.

An upward contribution to the inflation rate came from rising transport prices, in particular driven by rising fuel prices. Housing costs also increased, mainly because the level of electricity prices was significantly higher in April this year than in the corresponding period a year ago.

Clothing and footwear prices usually increase in April, although last year in the same period prices fell, which resulted in an upward contribution to the inflation rate in April 2021. Miscellaneous goods and services also provided an upward contribution to the inflation rate.

Within the group recreation and culture, other recreational items, camping and open-air recreation provided upward contributions, downward contributions from audiovisual, photographic equipment and computer equipment offset the rising price development.

The inflation rate according to the CPIF excluding energy was 1.7 percent in April, up from 1.4 percent in March.

Effects of the coronavirus pandemic on calculations

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

Special imputations during the coronavirus pandemic (pdf)

2021-06-10 at 9:30.