Canadian consumer prices fell 0.8 percent in the 12 months to August, following a record 0.9 percent decline the previous month, a government agency said Thursday.
The decrease, more significant than analysts expected, was due primarily to a 12-month drop of 19.1 percent in prices of energy, mainly gasoline, said Statistics Canada.
Excluding energy, inflation rose 1.4 percent between August 2008 and August 2009.
Analysts had predicted a 0.6 percent drop in the Consumer Price Index.
