Switzerland saw a surprising decrease in consumer price inflation to its lowest level in over two years in January, according to a report by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday.
The report showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January increased by 1.3% year-on-year, which was slower than the 1.7% increase observed in December. Economists had predicted that inflation would remain steady at 1.7%.
This occurrence of low inflation is the lowest since October 2021, when there was a 1.2% increase in prices.
Furthermore, the inflation rate remained within the range target set by the central bank at 0-2%.
Year-on-year price growth in housing and energy sectors slowed down from 3.3% in December to 2.5%. Likewise, the price growth rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 2.3%, while transport costs decreased by 0.8%.
On a monthly basis, in January, there was a slight increase in consumer prices by 0.2% following no change in the previous month. This was slower than the anticipated increase of 0.6%.
