“Electricity prices increased more than they usually do from July to August, while prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell for the first time since the beginning of the year” says Caroline Neander, statistician at Statistics Sweden.

In brief

• Electricity prices rose from July to August and were 25 percent higher than the corresponding period a year ago.
• Prices of package holidays and car rental fell from July to August.
• Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased from the previous month. This is the first time since the beginning of the year that prices have gone down.
• Fuel prices fell by 8.8 percent compared to August a year ago.
• Interest expenses, owner-occupied housing and tenant-owned apartments, continued to decrease on an annual basis and contributed with -1.8 percentage points to the inflation rate according to the CPI.

Electricity prices increased while package holidays fell

The total price development from July to August was a decrease by 0.4 percent. In the corresponding period last year, prices decreased by 0.6 percent.

Prices of package holidays and international flights fell more than usual in August. Likewise, prices for car rental fell, which is normal for the season when vacations come to an end.

The prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages decreased for the first time since the beginning of the year, where the prices of leeks, grapes and cabbage fell the most. Interest expenses for owner-occupied housing continued to fall in August.

What counteracted the price decline from July to August were the price increases on electricity as well as for clothing. Traffic tolls etc., partly due to congestion taxes and bridge tolls increased, since they went from low to high season in August.

The table below shows changes on a monthly basis and contributions to the CPI based on the goods and services that had the greatest impact on the CPI in July 2025. The results are presented by COICOP category. COICOP refers to the United Nations classification of household consumption expenditure.

Contributions to the inflation rate in August

The inflation rate according to the CPI, that is, the change in the CPI from the corresponding month last year, was 1.1 percent in August. This was an increase from July when the inflation rate was 0.8 percent.

Higher prices on electricity and food and non-alcoholic beverages were the main contributors to the inflation rate in August. There were larger price increases for dairy products, confectionary and ice cream, as well as for chocolate. In addition, rents for rental apartments were higher than they were the corresponding period last year. Prices for restaurant visits also went up. So did prices in personal care.

The inflation rate was partially offset by lower interest expenses for owner-occupied housing and tenant-owned apartments, contributing -1.8 percentage points to the inflation rate according to the CPI. Fuel prices have also decreased on an annual basis, driven by lower prices on gasoline, 95 octane.

The inflation rate according to the CPIF, which unlike the CPI is not affected by changes in interest rates on household mortgages, was 3.2 percent in August, up from 3.0 percent in July.

The inflation rate for CPIF calculated excluding energy (CPIF-XE), was 2.9 percent in August, which can be compared with 3.2 percent in July.

Different measures of inflation

Statistics Sweden calculates different inflation measures for different purposes. The CPIF is the Riksbank’s target variable, while CPI is the measure used for purposes of compensation. The CPIF includes the same goods and services as CPI. The difference between the CPI and the CPIF is that the latter measure holds interest rates for household’s mortgages constant. Consequently, the effect of changed interest rates for household’s mortgages is only captured by the CPI and not the CPIF.

Additional to the CPI and the CPIF, the HICP is also calculated. The HICP is a harmonized measure of inflation used within the EU cooperation. Another index that is calculated each month is CPIF-XE (the CPIF excluding energy products) which is often used as a measure of underlying inflation.

Updated classification and reference year for the Swedish CPI

As from January 2026 the Swedish CPI will change reference year, from 1980 to 2020. At the same time the classification will be updated from COICOP 1999 to COICOP 2018. More information is available here:

Updated classification and reference year for the Swedish CPI

CPI flash estimate: a preliminary indicator

The CPI flash estimate is a preliminary indicator for the aggregated inflation that is published five working days before the regular publication of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Sometimes the CPI flash estimate can deviate from the regular CPI. For more information, please see:

Information about the CPI flash estimate

High-cost protection from July

Treatment of changed high-cost protection for pharmaceuticals in the CPI (pdf)

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