Norwegian Inflation Rises Slightly, Producer Prices Grow Sharply

(RTTNews) - Norway's consumer price inflation increased slightly as expected in July, while producer prices grew at the steepest pace in more than two-and-a-half years, separate reports from Statistics Norway showed on Friday.

The consumer price index rose 2.8 percent year-over-year in July, slightly faster than the 2.6 percent gain in June, which was the weakest inflation rate since January 2021.

The annual price growth for housing and utilities accelerated to 1.6 percent from 0.2 percent in June. Similarly, clothing and footwear prices rose at a slower rate of 2.9 percent versus 2.6 percent a month ago.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices moved up 0.5 percent in July after rising 0.2 percent in June. The expected increase was 0.6 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes energy prices and tax changes, eased slightly to 3.3 percent in July from 3.4 percent in the previous month. That was in line with expectations.

In a separate report, the statistical office said producer prices rose 6.5 percent annually in July versus a 3.4 percent decline a month ago amid an 8.5 percent rebound in energy costs. Moreover, this was the steepest increase since December 2022.

Prices for extraction and related services climbed 11.3 percent, while utility costs slumped by 20.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices edged up 0.1 percent in July, following a 0.5 percent gain in June.