Cheaper prices in sight These products will now be cheaper again

Good news for the household budget: inflation remains constant in August. Prices for many everyday goods are falling. Meat and hygiene products in particular will become cheaper again in 2024.

Inflation, wars and an economy in crisis. All this leads to rising prices. But now consumers could see a light at the end of the inflation tunnel. The national consumer price index, which is used to measure inflation, is no longer rising.

The zero inflation in August is due to opposing price trends that have balanced each other out, says Corinne Becker, Head of Prices at the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Fluctuations in various products did not lead to an overall increase. The biggest price driver is therefore rents, which have risen significantly as a result of the increase in the reference interest rate. "We are observing a clear trend here," says Becker.

On the other hand, the picture is more complex, as many goods have become cheaper for various reasons. No clear findings can be derived here, as the Tagblatt writes.

Breakthrough in hygiene products for women

Consumers can look forward to 2025. Next year, monthly hygiene products for women in Switzerland will be taxed at a lower rate than before. Instead of the regular rate of 8.1 percent, they will be taxed at the reduced VAT rate of 2.6 percent from January.

Pads, tampons and panty liners are already cheaper before the tax reduction, as many retailers have reduced the price ahead of time. However, they still have to pay the regular VAT rate until the end of the year. In January, Aldi was the first to lower its prices, followed by Coop in mid-July and now Denner is following suit.

After a long battle, the Federal Council and Parliament have agreed to the demands of the women's associations. This decision marks an important milestone.

Cheaper meat products now also at Coop

But not only hygiene products will be available at lower prices. Meat prices will also be reduced. The discounter Aldi made the first move. Meat products will now cost up to 36 percent less. For example, 500 grams of minced beef will now cost 5.99 francs - almost 2 francs less than before.

Coop has now also reacted and announced that it will reduce the price per kilo for minced meat from the Baltic States by 25 percent. Swiss chicken thighs (-6.3 percent) and pork fillet (-25 percent) will also be cheaper.

Healthy living with affordable vegetables

Fruit vegetables such as tomatoes, courgettes, eggplants and peppers have also become significantly cheaper. According to the FSO, prices fell by 3.3 percent in August compared to the previous month and by 11.2 percent year-on-year, while melons and grapes became 7.8 percent and 15.5 percent cheaper respectively.

As the Tagblatt writes, Christian Sohm, head of the fruit, vegetable and potato trade association Swisscofel, does not want to draw any premature conclusions from a single month's statistics. The 2024 harvests are slightly better than those in the "poor" 2023, which should lower the price level slightly. But Sohm sees the main reason for the observed price reductions in the major summer campaigns.

And there had to be such campaigns. "When it's cold and raining, people don't buy melons," says Sohm. The result is a surplus supply, which then leads to a generally lower price level and generous promotions. And these in turn leave their mark on the statistics.

Petrol prices fall by 1.9 percent

Drivers can also rejoice, as filling up is becoming cheaper. In August, the price of petrol fell by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month and by 1.9 percent compared to the same month last year. Heating oil was even 6.4 percent and 12.6 percent cheaper respectively.

In concrete terms, this means that a liter of unleaded currently costs CHF 1.77 and diesel CHF 1.82. "Fuel prices have gradually fallen over the last two weeks," says TCS spokeswoman Vanessa Flack. "The price of petrol is back at the level it was at the end of January 2024."

The price of diesel is twelve centimes per liter lower than at the end of January and thus lower than ever before this year. "In our price quotations, the last time the price of diesel was at today's level was in January 2022." The reason for the price drop is the price of crude oil, which has fallen to around 71 dollars per barrel.

Off on vacation - and cheaper

Flying is becoming cheaper: according to the FSO, prices in August were 6.7 percent lower than in July and 0.1 percent below the previous year's level. Travel agencies confirm this trend. "We can see that flight prices are lower this year than last year," says Hotelplan Head of Communications Muriel Wolf Landau.

The cost of accommodation and local activities varies depending on the destination. "This summer, prices were slightly higher in Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife and Antalya, while they have fallen in Djerba, Kos and Cyprus," explains Muriel Wolf Landau. Travel to Turkey has become around ten percent more expensive in the last twelve months due to high inflation, while prices in Tunisia remain at pre-pandemic levels.

These price differences are influencing customers' booking behavior. "Tunisia is a very popular destination for the Swiss this fall," says Wolf Landau, and Hotelplan is recording "a significant double-digit increase in bookings" for Tunisia. In the long term, however, flight ticket prices are likely to rise. Swiss expects this to be mainly due to the investments required for greater sustainability.