Services in Finland among most expensive in Europe
Transport costs more, energy and mobile phone services cheaper than EU average
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Prices paid by Finnish households for services are higher than the European average. In a comparison of 36 countries, services in Finland are the fifth most expensive. Only residents of Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland paid more for services than Finns.
Coming close to the Finnish level are Sweden and Ireland.
The price level varies considerably among EU member states. "The price is brought down especially by the new EU member states and membership applicants", says Harri Kananoja of Statistics Finland.
The latest price comparison put out by Eurostat uses an index to compare the price of services. The average price level for the 25 EU member states is given the index number 100. On that scale, Finland gets the number 130 for all services, which means that prices in Finland are 30 percent higher than the EU average.
In relative terms, the most expensive services in Finland are in transport, for which Finland gets the index number 135. In Estonia the price index for transport is 54.
Restaurant and hotel services are 23 percent higher than the EU average, and recreation and cultural services cost 11 percent more.
Somewhat surprisingly, the cost of energy in Finland is lower than the average; Finland gets the index number 91, which is one point below that of Spain.
In communications services Finland's index number is 78, which is attributed to the low cost of mobile telephone calls. Kananoja finds it surprising that the new EU countries are among the most expensive in communications services.
Kananoja notes that it is difficult to make accurate comparisons of prices of services, because of many different factors affect quality.
In labour-intensive fields the price differences are great, and in capital-intensive fields they are much smaller.
The index is convenient for travellers, but it reveals little about the purchasing power of citizens in their own countries.
The cheapest country from a tourist's point of view is Bulgaria, which gets an average index number of 31 for all services.
Eurostat makes these comparisons once every three years, but this is the most extensive such study ever.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 9.11.2006 - TODAY |
 Services in Finland among most expensive in Europe |
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