The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.7% year over year in April, down from a 2.3% increase in March. The slowdown in April was driven by lower energy prices, which fell 12.7% following a 0.3% decline in March. Excluding energy, the CPI rose 2.9% in April, following a 2.5% increase in March.
Moderating the slowdown in the CPI in April were higher prices for travel tours (+6.7%) and food purchased from stores (+3.8%).
On a monthly basis, the CPI fell 0.1% in April. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI was down 0.2%.
Energy prices fall year over year in April
Gasoline led the decline in consumer energy prices, falling 18.1% year over year in April, following a 1.6% decline in March. The price decrease in April was mainly driven by the removal of the consumer carbon price. Lower crude oil prices also contributed to the decline. Global oil demand decreased due to slowing international trade related to tariffs. In addition, supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) increased.
Year over year, prices for natural gas fell 14.1% in April, after a 6.4% gain in March. The removal of the consumer carbon price contributed to the decline in April.
Consumers pay more for groceries in April
In April, prices for food purchased from stores grew at a faster pace, increasing 3.8% year over year compared with 3.2% in March. Prices for food purchased from stores have been increasing at a faster rate than the all-items CPI for three consecutive months.
The largest contributors to the year-over-year acceleration in April were fresh vegetables (+3.7%), fresh or frozen beef (+16.2%), coffee and tea (+13.4%), sugar and confectionery (+8.6%) and other food preparations (+3.2%).
Prices for food purchased from restaurants also rose at a faster rate in April, increasing 3.6% year over year, following a 3.2% gain in March.
Prices for travel tours rise at a faster pace
Year over year, prices for travel tours rose 6.7% in April, after a 4.7% decline in March. On a month-over-month basis, prices for travel tours rose 3.7% in April after an 8.0% decline in March.
Regional highlights
On a yearly basis, prices rose at a slower pace in nine provinces in April compared with March. The only province with faster price growth was Quebec, as prices for gasoline (-12.1%) fell to a lesser extent compared with other provinces. Quebec consumers were not impacted by the removal of the federal consumer carbon price because of the province’s cap-and-trade system.
In Nova Scotia, an HST rate decrease in April contributed to slower year-over-year price growth in the province.
