Denmark’s headline inflation rises as its core rate falls
Denmark’s annual consumer inflation rose from 2% to 2.2% in September. Fuel prices lifted the headline measure, while the core rate excluding energy and unprocessed food fell from 2.2% to 1.9%. The overall price index was unchanged from August, as increases and decreases across components offset each other.
Economics & Markets··Evening
Headline inflation reaches 2.2%
Statistics Denmark’s October 12 release put annual consumer inflation at 2.2% in September, up from 2% in August. The August and September readings use the same national index. The higher headline reading does not imply that all goods and services rose at the same pace. The statistical office identified transport as the largest contributor to annual inflation, with fuel prices particularly important within that group.[1], [2]
Transport prices rose 7.7% from a year earlier and 2.6% from August. Fuel prices were prominent in the annual transport increase. Food and non-alcoholic beverages, meanwhile, were 2.1% cheaper than a year earlier and 0.7% cheaper than in August. Those components moved in different directions beneath the single annual inflation figure.[1]
Core inflation declines to 1.9%
Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food, declined from 2.2% in August to 1.9% in September. The statistical office identified rents as the main driver of the annual rise in the core index; rents were prominent within the core index. The core and headline rates thus moved in opposite directions. They describe the same month but use different baskets, so neither replaces the other.[1]
Service prices rose 3.3% annually, compared with 0.9% for goods. That split provides context for the importance of rent and other services in the core index. A lower core inflation rate does not mean rents fell; the measure combines annual changes across all included components. The release reports the headline and core measures separately, each with its own scope.[1]
The monthly index holds steady
The overall consumer price index was unchanged from August to September. Fuel, clothing and air-travel prices rose, while holiday-home rents, package holidays and food prices fell. Those component movements coincided with a flat overall monthly index. The overall monthly measure stayed flat.[1]
Denmark’s EU-harmonised consumer-price measure increased 2.1% annually, up from 2% in August. The harmonised measure excludes the estimated rental value of owner-occupied housing. Its September rate and the national 2.2% figure therefore represent different index definitions. Both describe annual price changes in September, but they are not interchangeable figures for the same basket.[1], [2]
