Press release: 12.350-190/20

Inflation increased to 1.5% in September 2020 (HICP: 1.3%)

Vienna, 2020-10-16 – In September 2020, the inflation rate was 1.5%, as Statistics Austria reports (August 2020: 1.4%). Higher prices for food were primarily responsible for the slight increase of the inflation rate in September. Housing, water and energy (+2.3% compared to September 2019) remained the most important price driver, followed by expenditures for restaurants and hotels (+3.4%). The index level of the consumer price index 2015 (CPI 2015) was 108.6 in September 2020. Compared to the previous month, the average price level increased by 0.6%.

The measures to contain COVID-19 in September had an even smaller impact on the calculation of the inflation rate than in August. Imputation methods like seasonal imputation were used for a few items in the tourism sector, while hardly any services in the entertainment sector required all items imputation anymore. In total, this affected about 3.1% 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 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 108.87 in September 2020 (August 2020 revised 107.82), with the harmonised inflation rate at 1.3%.

For more detailed information please refer to the German version.