The growth rate of consumer prices in Switzerland in March fell to the lowest since September 2021, 1% in annual terms, from 1.2% in February, according to the country's Federal Statistical Office.
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The consensus forecast provided by Trading Economics assumed inflation at 1.3%.
How prices have changed
Compared to the previous month, prices in Switzerland did not change after growing by 0.6% in February.
< p>Food and non-alcoholic drinks fell in price in March by 0.4% year-on-year, healthcare services by 0.5%, and transport services by 0.5%. Meanwhile, housing and energy prices rose by 3.2%; in the sphere of recreation and culture, inflation was 1.8%.
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Core inflation, which does not include volatile categories such as unprocessed food and energy, slowed to 1% from 1.1%.
Swiss National Bank (SNB, the country's central bank) targets inflation at 0-2% and in March lowered the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5%.
“According to the latest forecast, inflation will remain in this range over the next few years,” noted the bank following the March meeting.