The consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to 12.3 percent, up from 11.5 percent in November, Statistics Sweden said, the highest figure since February 1991.

The main driver was the price of electricity, which rose 28.8 percent in December compared to the month before and 45.3 percent compared to a year earlier.

Sweden’s inflation adjusted for fixed interest rates (CPIF) — the figure used by Sweden’s central bank to guide monetary policy — jumped to 10.2 percent on an annual basis, up from 9.5 percent in November.

In a bid to counter soaring inflation, the Scandinavian country’s central bank has sharply hiked its key interest rate in recent months, from zero in April to 2.5 percent currently, with its next monetary policy meeting scheduled for early February.

The bank has signalled that more increases are on the way.

Inflation has soared worldwide in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, prompting central banks to hike interest rates.