Norway: Inflation holds steady in April, above Norges Bank target for fifteenth month running
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in April compared to the previous month, up from 0.2% in March. This latest increase was due to higher prices for transport, communications, and recreation and culture. However, lower prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels weighed on the overall price gains.
Inflation was steady at March’s 2.9% in April, although it remained above Norges Bank’s 2.0% target rate for the fifteenth consecutive month. Meanwhile, annual average inflation ticked up to 3.1% from 3.0%.
Core consumer prices—which are adjusted for tax changes and exclude energy prices—rose 0.5% in April compared to the previous month, up from 0.3% in March. Core inflation dropped to 2.6% in April from 2.7% in March, but was still above market analysts’ expectations of 2.5%.