Sweden Producer Prices Plunge 7.7%

(RTTNews) - Sweden's producer prices declined for the eighth straight month in December amid a continued slump in costs for energy-related products, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Thursday.

The producer price index dropped 7.7 percent year-on-year in December, faster than the 4.2 percent fall in November.

The annual rate of the producer price index, excluding energy-related products, was an increase of 1.4 percent.

Prices in the domestic market alone decreased 9.8 percent in December.

Prices for energy-related goods fell sharply by 37.6 percent annually in December. Meanwhile, prices of consumer goods gained 3.4 percent, and those of capital goods climbed 5.0 percent.

Monthly, producer prices rebounded 1.6 percent in December, following a 1.4 percent drop seen in the preceding month.

Data also showed that import prices fell 2.7 percent annually and the export price index was 5.0 percent lower.