“Perceived inflation” at 1.5 percent at the start of the year
Published: Tuesday, Feb 27th 2024, 00:40
Zurück zu Live Feed
Perceived inflation, as measured by the prices of everyday goods, clearly weakened in Switzerland at the start of the new year, as did official annual inflation. Compared to the previous year, prices for heating energy, for example, became cheaper, while electricity prices increased significantly once again.
According to the Comparis Consumer Price Index published by the comparison portal Comparis on Tuesday, prices for regularly consumed goods rose by 1.5% in January 2024 compared to the same month last year. In December, however, the "perceived inflation" had even amounted to 1.9%. In this respect, this form of inflation weakened at the start of the year.
At 1.5%, the "perceived inflation" recorded in the Comparis index is still slightly higher than the official annual inflation rate. As recently reported, the national consumer price index (CPI) compiled by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) rose by 1.3% year-on-year in January. In December, inflation had amounted to 1.7 percent.
Compared to the previous month of December, goods in the Comparis shopping basket were 0.2% more expensive in the month under review, according to the figures. Prices in the CPI basket rose by the same amount in the same period.
Electricity significantly more expensive
Following the sharp price increase a year ago, electricity prices (+17.8 percent) have once again risen sharply over the past twelve months, Comparis wrote in its press release. In the last two years combined, they have climbed by almost 50 percent.
Prices for cocoa and chocolate powder also rose sharply in the Comparis index (+11.3%). The reason for this was the recent poor harvest yields in the important cocoa-growing countries of Ghana and Ivory Coast. The increase in freight costs in the wake of the Houthi attacks on the Suez Canal also had an impact.
The price increase for postal services (+8.7%) was the third strongest in the Comparis index. Financial services and soft drinks followed in fourth and fifth place with increases of 8.1 percent and 6.3 percent respectively.
Cheaper heating
On the other hand, fuel prices fell compared to the same month last year (-2.9%). Prices for energy for heating (gas, heating oil, firewood and district heating) fell by as much as 10.7 percent. Nevertheless, heating energy prices are still at a clearly higher level than the long-term average, according to the report.
The second-strongest price reduction in the reporting period was for toys and hobby goods (-4.4%). The prices of other services for private transportation (-3.5%) and white wine (-3.1%) also continued to fall.
The Comparis Consumer Price Index, in collaboration with the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), claims to reflect "perceived inflation" by adjusting the data of the Swiss Consumer Price Index (CPI) for rents and durable goods such as cars and furniture. However, the CPI measures price changes using a representative basket of around 1,050 goods and services.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic