2023.03.1413:55:00UTC+00Finland Inflation Rises To 8.8%

Finland's consumer price inflation rose in February after easing in the previous month amid higher electricity prices and the rise in the average interest rate on housing loans, preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed on Tuesday.

The consumer price index climbed 8.8 percent year-over-year in February, faster than January's 8.4 percent rise.

The upward trend in inflation was mainly attributed to the price increases of electricity and the average interest rate on housing loans and consumer credits from one year ago, the agency said.

Among the major components, prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages had the largest impact on inflation, surging by 16.3 percent, followed by miscellaneous goods and services with an 11.92 percent spike.

Compared to the previous month, consumer prices rose 0.8 percent in February, after a 0.6 percent gain in the prior month.

The EU measure of the harmonized index, or HICP, climbed at a stable pace of 7.9 percent annually in February.

Month-on-month, the HICP increased 0.6 percent from January, when it rose by 0.5 percent.