Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 6.9 percent over the year.

Among food items, the biggest annual price increases were seen in chocolate (31.5 percent), coffee (31 percent), poultry (15.2 percent) and fresh fruits and berries (12.7 percent).

At the same time, sugar was down 17.1 percent, potatoes 5.7 percent, fresh or chilled fish 3.9 percent and processed fruit also 3.9 percent. Gasoline was 6.8 percent cheaper and diesel 6.6 percent.

Lauri Veski, head of consumer price statistics at Statistics Estonia, said that several developments in 2025 had a significant impact on the consumer price index.

"At the start of the year, the motor vehicle tax took effect, which raised the transport index compared with the previous year's average. In April, an updated pricing list for healthcare services pushed up the health index. Meanwhile, clothing and footwear prices dropped by an average of 3.7 percent," he added.

Prices up 4.1% compared to December 2024

The consumer price index continued its downward trend in December, falling by 0.6 percent compared with November. However, it was still up 4.1 percent from December 2024.

Over the year, the price of goods rose by 2 percent, while services increased by 7.2 percent.

According to Veski, food and non-alcoholic beverages again had the biggest impact on the index compared with the same month a year earlier.

"The main contributors to the rise in food prices were meat and meat products (up 7.3 percent), milk, dairy products and eggs (8.3 percent), coffee (24.5 percent) and chocolate (16.9 percent)," he said.

Compared with November, December's consumer price index was most affected by lower housing costs (down 2.3 percent) and food prices (down 1.4 percent). Gasoline and diesel prices also fell by 4.4 percent.

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