However, consumer prices rose slightly compared to the previous month
Inflation in Switzerland did not rise any further in February. It is still clearly in the negative range. Meanwhile, consumer prices rose slightly on balance compared to the previous month.
Specifically, the national consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.2 percent to 100.2 points in February 2021, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The base was reset to 100.0 points last December.
Within a year, the price level fell by 0.5 percent. In the previous month of January, this value, known as inflation, was also minus 0.5 percent.
The low point in Swiss inflation since the beginning of the pandemic was minus 1.3 percent in June. Since then, things have increased slightly more or less consistently. Due to the base effect, inflation should move back into positive territory in a few months, despite the currently surprisingly low value.
According to the FSO, the 0.2 percent increase compared to the previous month is due to various factors. Among other things, the prices for clothing and shoes have risen after the end of the winter sale. The same was true for apartment rents, as well as for fuel. The prices for berries and medical supplies, however, have fallen, according to the information.
The harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP), which can be used to compare inflation here with that in European countries, remained at the previous month's level. Compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, this corresponds to a rate of change of minus 0.6 percent, according to the information.
