Electricity prices rose by almost 21 percent. This is the largest increase since November 2024. However, Statistics Sweden's figures show that food prices overall increased unusually little.
“It is moving towards an interest rate cut”
Low inflation and an upcoming food VAT reduction may cause the Swedish Central Bank to want to lower the interest rate sometime this summer, says Stråberg.
But for the Swedish Central Bank to act, it is necessary that inflation has been low for a long time and perhaps also that growth does not pick up, she says.
It is primarily the downward pressure on service prices that increases the likelihood of an interest rate cut, according to Torbjörn Isaksson, chief analyst at Nordea.
It is a low outcome and it is moving towards an interest rate cut, even though we are not there yet, he says, and continues:
It stands and weighs.
Among food prices, the prices of fish, seafood and vegetables rose the most in January compared to December, but food prices overall increased unusually little, according to Caroline Neander, price statistician at Statistics Sweden.
"Price increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages were slightly lower in January than in recent years. Prices usually rise in January; that pattern is not as clear this year," she says in a separate press release.
"Pasta, mushrooms, sausages and pears have decreased in price both compared with last month and with January last year," she adds.
“It's almost nothing”
The general increase in food prices of 0.3 percent confirms the picture that there are no sneaky increases ahead of the temporary halving of food VAT in April, according to Nordea economist Isaksson.
It's almost nothing, he says of the price increase.
The market took the new Statistics Sweden figures calmly. The Swedish krona rose a few cents against the dollar and the euro immediately after the publication of the inflation report.
Joakim Goksör/TT
Malin Johanson/TT
Facts: Inflation fell in January
TT
Inflation, as measured by the CPIF, fell to 2.0 percent in January, according to figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB). This was in line with the preliminary estimate presented last week. It is also in line with the Swedish Central Bank's inflation target of 2.0 percent.
In December, the inflation rate was 2.1 percent.
Energy prices rose sharply. However, if you exclude energy prices and look at the underlying inflation, CPIF excluding energy fell to 1.7 percent. This was also in line with preliminary figures.
