OREANDA-NEWS. January 12, 2010. The Estonian consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.1 percent againt the 2008 average in 2009, Statistics Estonia said.

According to Statistics Estonia the fall in the consumer price index compared with last year's average was calculated for the first time in Estonia.

In 2009 the prices of goods were 1.8 percent cheaper and services 3.1 percent more expensive. Food items were 0.3 percent and manufactured goods 3.0 percent cheaper.

The biggest influencers of the index were the fall in food prices and a rise in the prices of tobacco products, Statistics Estonia said.

Motor fuel was 13.4 percent cheaper in 2009 compared with the average of the previous year; the fall in milk product prices was 12.8 percent and in rents 31.3 percent.

The 24.7 percent rise in tobacco products was an afterffect to the rise of excise taxes in 2008 when cigarettes with new excise stamps arrived in the trade network only in August-September 2008, Statistics Estonia said.