Prices of goods fell by 1.6 %, while prices of services rose by 1.8 %.
"Compared to May 2019, in May 2020 the average level of consumer prices was mainly influenced by the drop in prices of goods and services related to transport, goods and services related to housing, clothing and footwear, as well as rise in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages, restaurant and hotel services, health care, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products," said the CSB.
During the month, consumer prices fell 0.4 %
Compared to April 2020, in May 2020 the average level of consumer prices reduced by 0.4 %. Prices of goods fell by 0.5 % and prices of services by 0.1 %.
The CSB noted that the coronavirus crisis had also forced some changes in how the relevant data is collected.
The consumer price survey is conducted in Rīga and ten other cities and towns from the 4th to 20th of the month. Price collection is performed by trained CSB employees by visiting sampled trade and services outlets, collecting prices online, or conducting telephone interviews.
Due to the restrictions introduced due to the COVID-19, the share of prices collected remotely (using Internet resources and telephone interviews) has increased.
In May approximately 10 % of prices were collected with one of the alternative price collection options (the share represents only the prices usually collected by visiting registration places).
Consumer price index calculations each month are based on approximately 25 thousand prices. All price data collected in May, including prices collected remotely, underwent standard validation procedures. No atypical or unjustified decreases or increases that could not be explained by global and seasonal trends were observed. At the end of the data validation, there was no evidence that use of the alternative methods had affected dynamics of price changes or quality of the data. All price data collected within the survey meet methodology and quality requirements, the CSB maintained.
