“Fuel prices rose substantially in March, its largest price increase since the 90’s, but was offset by decreased electricity prices,” says Mikael Nordin, statistician at Statistic Sweden. 

In brief

Monthly change since February 2026

• Electricity prices decreased considerably in March, offsetting the large price increase in January.
• Food prices were lower in March, primarily because of reduced dairy prices.
• Fuel prices rose substantially by about 20 percent in March, which is the largest price increase since the 90’s.

12-month change since March 2025

• Fuel prices have risen the past year and were a main contributor to the inflation rate.
• Meat prices continued to increase.
• Rents for rental apartments rose by about 4 percent since March 2025.
• Interest expenses continued to offset the inflation rate according to CPI.

Large fluctuations in energy prices

The price development from February to March according to the CPI was a decrease by 0.6 percent. In the corresponding period last year, prices decreased by 0.7 percent.

The general price decrease from February to March was affected by the large decline in electricity prices. The decreased electricity prices returned to similar price levels as before the relatively large price increase in January. Moreover, prices for package holidays fell and the annual book sale contributed to declined prices for books. Food prices also decreased, mainly because of a downturn in prices for dairy products.

The decreased prices were offset by increased prices for fuels, which rose by about 20 percent in March. This was the largest price increase in fuel prices since the early 90’s. Among fuel products, diesel increased the most, by almost 28 percent compared to previous month, while petrol prices increased by 15 percent. Clothing prices rose in March as well, which is normal for the season.

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 March 2026. The results are presented by COICOP category. COICOP refers to the United Nations classification of household consumption expenditure.

Contributions to the inflation rate in March

The inflation rate according to the CPI, that is, the change in the CPI from the corresponding month last year, was 0.5 percent in March. This was unchanged from the previous month.

Increased fuel prices was the main contributor to the inflation rate in March. Fuel prices have had a muted impact on the inflation rate for a long period, but the large price increase in March contributed to a notable price increase of about 16 percent compared to March 2025. Electricity prices remained higher compared to the corresponding period last year, even though the prices declined substantially in March.

Prices also rose for restaurant visits and for meat products in grocery stores. Rents for rental apartments and prices for personal care as well as miscellaneous goods and services increased during the past year.

Interest expenses were lower than last year and continued to be the main contribution dampening the inflation rate. However, interest expenses increased compared to previous month, which is a notable change as interest expenses have decreased almost every month since May 2024. Prices for furniture and household equipment, as well as home electronics also decreased compared to March 2025.

Prices for dental services declined, which can mainly be explained by a new subsidy for dental care. More specifically, as of the first of January 2026, the new subsidy applies to people who turn 67 years or older in 2026 and means that they pay 10 percent of the price for certain dental services.

The inflation rate according to the CPIF, which unlike the CPI is not affected by changes in interest rates on household mortgages, was 1.6 percent in March, down from 1.7 percent in February.

The inflation rate for the CPIF calculated excluding energy (CPIF-XE), was 1.1 percent in March, which can be compared with 1.4 percent in February.

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 changed reference year, from 1980 to 2020. At the same time the classification was updated from COICOP 1999 to COICOP 2018. More information is available here:

Updated classification and reference year for the Swedish CPI

Statistics Sweden has carried out an analysis of how the rate of change figures are affected by the classification change. The effects are considered to be small. If the classification change would have taken place already last year, the 12-month change in March 2026 for the CPI would have been 0.02 percentage points higher. For the CPIF, CPIF-XE and the HICP, the corresponding calculation shows that the 12-month change in March 2026 would have been 0.03, 0.06 and 0.04 percentage points respectively higher. Statistics Sweden will follow up the effects of the changed classification throughout 2026.

For more methodological information, see:

Impact analysis for COICOP 2018 (Swedish)

Changes for users retrieving data via the API

In the autumn of 2025, PxWebApi v1 was replaced by the new PxWebApi v2. PxWebApi v1 will remain operational until the turn of the year 2026/2027, after which it will no longer be available. For further information and guidance on the transition, see

PXWebAPI v2

Next publishing will be