Statistics Canada
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What got cheaper
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Some consumer items have become cheaper, which helped temper the overall CPI increase in 2008. Many are items that have a high degree of imported content; many are also items that Canadians buy less frequently than food or gasoline.
Clothing prices fell 3.3% in 2008, and footwear prices, 2.2%, the seventh consecutive annual decline for both. Computer equipment and supplies fell a further 13.3% in 2008 after falling 17.1% in 2007 and 20.8% in 2005. Prices for photographic equipment and supplies dropped at an accelerating pace for the third consecutive year—15.0% in 2008, 9.7% in 2007 and 8.9% in 2006.
In 2008, price indexes for audio equipment fell 6.6%, and for video equipment, 9.2%, continuing on the heels of previous declines. Book prices declined 9.4%; furniture, 1.9%; and household appliances, 3.1%.
