Finland’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 1.5% in April 2026, up from 1.3% in March, marking the fastest pace since May 2024. The increase was largely driven by higher transport costs (up 5.3% vs 3.1% in March), with particularly sharp rises in diesel (35.9% vs 18.3%) and gasoline (16.1% vs 9.2%). Inflation also picked up in health (3.6% vs 1.9%), information and communication (5.2% vs 4.8%), and education services (11.5% vs 11.1%), while price growth for alcoholic beverages and tobacco held steady at 3.6%.
In contrast, prices declined for insurance and financial services (-3.1% vs -3.4%) and for housing and utilities (-0.3% vs 1.2%), even as heating oil costs continued to surge (72% vs 41.7%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1%, a slowdown from the 0.7% increase recorded in March. Harmonized consumer prices— the European Central Bank’s preferred inflation gauge—were up 2.4% year-on-year, slightly below the 2.5% rate seen in the previous month.
