Norway's consumer price inflation eased further in August to the lowest level in nearly one-and-a-half years, while producer prices continued to decline markedly, data from Statistics Norway revealed Monday.
Consumer prices increased 4.8 percent year-over-year in August, slower than the 5.4 percent fall in the previous month. Economists had expected the inflation to slow somewhat to 5.3 percent.
Further, the latest inflation rate was the weakest since March 2022, when prices had risen 4.5 percent.
Meanwhile, core inflation moderated marginally to 6.3 percent from 6.4 percent. The expected rate was 6.6 percent.
On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices dropped 0.8 percent in August, reversing a 0.4 percent gain in July.
The slowdown in inflation was largely driven by a 1.0 percent decline in utility costs against a 2.7 percent growth a month ago.
Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages were 9.0 percent higher compared to last year, and those of recreation and culture grew by 9.7 percent.
Separate data from Statistics Norway showed that producer prices plunged 37.4 percent from a year ago in August?and faster than the 35.4 percent decline in July.?
Prices for extraction and related services alone surged 55.8 percent over the year, closely followed by energy goods with 54.9 percent fall.
Month-on-month, producer prices posted a monthly growth of 4.8 percent, in contrast to the 2.9 percent decline in July.
