Statistical Decomposition of Product-Specific Inflation Rates in Austria

The major part of inflation in Austria is accounted for by the international component. With the exception of the first months of the year 2005 and the last months of 2007, the components specific to Austria had an inflation-dampening effect vis-à-vis the "underlying inflation trend" of the euro area. Ten product groups for which a marked positive Austria-specific contribution to inflation towards the end of 2007 and in early 2008 was revealed were investigated more closely. For most of these goods, the domestic component of inflation decreased in the further course of 2008. Exceptions of this pattern were pharmaceutical products and fuels where price increases still exhibited significant Austria-specific components in mid-2008.