Inflation in Spain remains unchanged in August at 2.7%
However, core inflation, the index that excludes energy and unprocessed food prices, rose by one tenth of a percentage point to 2.4% year-on-year
Inflation in Spain sees the summer out unchanged. The consumer price index (CPI) for August remains at the same level as it reached in July, at 2.7%, when it rose four tenths of a percentage point due to rising energy prices, according to the latest data from Spain's INE national statistics institute. The preliminary figure provided in advance by the INE confirms the pause in price rises this year after the increases in June (up 0.3%) and July (up 0.4%) which left year-on-year growth at the current figure.
According to the INE, the pause in the upward trend on this occasion is due to the fact that food and non-alcoholic beverage prices fell more than the figures recorded in August of last year, also that electricity prices moderated their rise.
However, core inflation, the index that excludes energy and unprocessed food prices, rose by one tenth of a percentage point to 2.4% year-on-year. With this increase, core inflation has seen two consecutive months of year-on-year increases. "Price stability and wage rises are allowing families to gradually recover their purchasing power", the Ministry of Economy stated in a press statement.
Not keeping in line with the EU
Despite this stabilisation, Spain's inflation figures are far from the EU average and also from the European Central Bank's target of 2% for CPI data. This threshold is precisely the average set by EU prices last July.
Core inflation, which excludes the effect of more volatile prices such as energy and fresh food and serves as the main benchmark for Frankfurt, also remained stable in the EU at 2.3%, the same level as in May and June, according to the harmonised index of consumer prices published on Wednesday by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.
