Statistics Norway (SSB), the country’s official statistics agency, published its September 2026 consumer price index on 9 October. The CPI rose 0.5% in one month and 3.4% from September 2025. The index uses 2025 as its reference year, set to 100; its September level was 104.0. These rates measure price changes for goods and services purchased by households. They do not describe one family’s personal basket or the inflation experienced identically by every person.

The CPI adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy, known as CPI-ATE, increased 0.2% in the month and 3.0% over the year. This measure has a different scope from headline CPI: it seeks to separate the direct effect of energy prices and changes in taxes. The two annual rates therefore should not be treated as interchangeable. Both are statistical summaries of price movements, not forecasts of future inflation.

In SSB’s selected table, the September index for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 104.1. The group declined 0.1% from August but was 2.4% above the same month a year earlier. The food-only index was 103.6, with a monthly change of minus 0.7% and an annual change of 2.2%. The non-alcoholic beverages index reached 107.3, up 4.0% in the month and 3.0% over 12 months. Differences between components show how an aggregate rate can conceal varied movements.

Monthly and annual changes answer different questions. The monthly rate compares August with September; the annual rate compares September 2025 with September 2026. A 3.4% annual rate means the measured price level was higher than one year earlier. It does not mean prices rose at the same pace every month. Nor does an index reading of 104.0 mean inflation was 104%; it is an index scaled so that the 2025 reference level equals 100.

The CPI combines price movements across product and service groups using weights. SSB also publishes the tax-adjusted measure excluding energy. Which indicator a reader uses determines the scope of the interpretation. The two annual rates in this report are national Norwegian statistics; an internationally comparable measure such as the harmonised HICP is a separate series. This account reports selected figures from SSB and does not infer causes or effects that the release does not establish.

The series is updated monthly, with the next CPI release scheduled for 10 November 2026. That publication will add a new reference month to the series. This single release cannot establish how wages, rents, interest rates or household purchasing power have changed; those questions require other data and definitions. SSB’s tables and methodological notes are the relevant references for the coverage of each rate.