The Consumer Price Index reflects a 2.8% year-on-year increase in July, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Tuesday. The trend in price increases has slowed by six-tenths of a percentage point compared to the previous month due to the performance of fuel and food, which pushed prices down.
Core inflation, which does not take into account energy or fresh food, fell to 2.8% after having been stuck at 3% for three consecutive months.
The most moderate growth since February
If this data is confirmed in mid-August, inflation in July will have registered its lowest level since last February, when it also grew by 2.8%. While underlying inflation would register its most moderate growth since January 2022.
The INE explains that the moderation of the CPI in July was mainly due to the fall in electricity prices, greater than last year; the drop in food prices, compared to the increase in July 2023; and also, although to a lesser extent, thanks to the prices of leisure and culture, whose prices rose, but less than in the same month of the previous year.
First negative rate since November
In the monthly comparison, consumer prices registered a rate of -0.5% in July compared to June, in contrast to the increase of 0.4% in June. This is the first negative rate in this parameter since last November.
Sources from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise stressed that “the fall in electricity prices and also in food prices have been key factors in the good performance of the CPI in July.”
The department headed by Carlos Cuerpo assesses the performance of inflation and the latest quarterly GDP results to conclude that these data, “together with the excellent evolution of employment that has allowed us to reach a record of more than 21.6 million people employed”, “confirm the strength of the Spanish economy, with strong and balanced growth, higher than that of our main partners”.
Source: www.lavanguardia.com
