After Easter offers in March, many expected the prices of food and drink to rise in April.
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Food prices rose by 3.3 per cent from March to April, recent figures from Statistics Norway show.
In general, price growth ended at 3.6 per cent in April, compared to the same month last year.
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The increase in food prices comes after falling for two months in a row before April.
In a press release, Statistics Norway writes that this is an “unusually high price increase for April”.
– The rise must be seen in the context of the fact that large offer campaigns in connection with Easter dampened prices in March. Now we get the effect of prices rising again after being on offer, says Espen Kristiansen, head of section at Statistics Norway in the press release.
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Fruit and chocolate
Among the product groups that rose a lot in price are chocolate, coffee and various citrus fruits.
Several economists had expected food prices to rise in advance, precisely because Easter ended up in March.
It is common for promotional campaigns to contribute to a fall in food prices around Easter.
Compared to April last year, food prices are up 6.8 per cent. The price development of chocolate, fruit and various types of soft drinks contributed to the fact that price growth is still high, writes SSB.
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Aim for two percent
Core inflation, which Norges Bank looks at most when setting interest rates, ended at 4.4 per cent last month.
– The probability that the interest rate cut will be in December and not September has been strengthened, says chief economist Kjersti Haugland at DNB Markets after the inflation figures.
The rise in prices is the main reason why Norges Bank has raised interest rates sharply in recent years. It is still a long way down from the central bank’s target of a stable inflation of two per cent, but lately price growth has calmed down more than the bank had envisaged.
– Price growth decreased for the fourth month in a row in April. Prices are still higher than they were at the same time last year for most goods and services, but they generally rise more slowly than before, says Kristiansen.
