Prisveksten økte til 3,4 prosent i september

In September, Norway's inflation rate increased by 3.4 percent compared to the previous year, according to recent figures from the Statistics Norway (SSB). This marks a slight rise from 3.3 percent in August, but it is also lower than what analysts had anticipated. The inflation rate, excluding energy prices and tax changes, is what the Norwegian Central Bank focuses on when deciding on interest rates. It currently stands at 3 percent for September, as expected.

Fuel prices contributed to the overall increase in inflation, due to the removal of temporary reductions in fuel taxes starting from September 1st. Simultaneously, fuel and diesel prices themselves also increased. Despite the significant surge in fuel prices during the last month, the overall inflation rate remained relatively stable between August and September, as Espen Kristiansen, head of the SSB section, explains. Meanwhile, electricity prices helped to pull inflation down.

The rise in inflation has led the Norwegian Central Bank to raise interest rates twice since the start of 2026. The benchmark interest rate is now back at 4.5 percent, the same level as before the previous cut. The central bank's goal is to maintain price stability at a 2 percent rate, while also ensuring the highest possible employment level.

The central bank's decision to raise interest rates in September was based on the observation that "inflation has been above target for several years," and that higher interest rates help to curb this trend. Central bank head Ida Wolden Bache also mentioned that they are prepared to raise interest rates further if necessary to bring inflation back down.

The central bank's forecast for total inflation (KPI) is 3.5 percent in September, and it expects the core inflation (KPI-JAE) to stay above 3 percent throughout the year. The bank also predicted the core inflation to be around 2.9 percent in September and between 2.7 to 2.8 percent in the following months.