Press release: 12.519-110/21
Vienna, 2021-05-19
– In April 2021, the inflation rate
was 1.9%, as Statistics Austria reports (March 2021: 2.0%). The expenditures
for housing, water and energy (+2.9% compared to April 2020) proved to
be the most important price driver, followed by fuels (+12.7%).
The consumer price index
(CPI 2020) was at 101.8, while the average price level decreased
by 0.1% compared to March 2021.
"After an inflation rate of 2.0% in March, the
inflation rate fell slightly to 1.9% in April 2021. In a year-on-year
comparison, the price increase can be attributed, among other things,
to the unusually low fuel prices in April of the previous year. Within
one year, fuel prices have risen by 12.7% and have now reached the pre-crisis
level of February 2020 again," says Statistics Austria Director
General Tobias Thomas.
The measures to contain COVID-19 had a larger impact
on the calculation of the inflation
rate than in March, because in the federal states Vienna, Lower Austria
and Burgenland a regional lockdown came into force: The retail sector,
personal services like hairdressers and museums and zoos were closed.
In April nationwide closed sectors were: gastronomy, theatre, tourism,
entertainment, leisure and sport. Where necessary, different imputation
methods like seasonal imputation, all items imputation or carry-forward
were applied. In total, this affected about 16.4% of the weight of the
basket of goods and services. For further in-depth explanation of the
general principles and applied computation methods, please refer to
the methodological information
note (PDF, 1 MB) on the compilation of the CPI in the context
of COVID-19.
The index level of the harmonised
index of consumer prices (HICP 2015)
was 110.83 in April 2021 with a harmonised inflation rate at 1.9%.
For more detailed information please refer to the German
version.
© STATISTICS AUSTRIA,
Last Changed 19.05.2021