The Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a zero annual rate in December, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This rate is three tenths higher than that of November and coincides with that advanced by the INE at the end of last December. The components of the CPI that have contributed to this increase are energy products and, to a lesser extent, unprocessed foods. Following this result, the average annual CPI rate of 2015 stands at -0.5%, compared to -0.2% in 2014.
The prices of energy products registered an interannual rate of -7.5% in December, compared with -10% in the previous month. The lower fall was mainly due to fuels and fuels, which slowed the rate of year-on-year decline by more than three percentage points, to 10.6%. Electricity also influenced, which experienced an interannual advance of 0.7%, three tenths higher than the previous month.
The annual rate of change in food prices remained at 1.7% in December. This stability is derived from a slight acceleration of unprocessed food, one tenth to 2.5%, and the non-variation of processed food. In the case of fresh food, the slight acceleration responded to fresh fruits and fresh and frozen fish, partially offset by sheep and chicken meats and by moderation in the departure of fresh legumes and vegetables (2%, compared to 4.4% of the previous month). On the other hand, the annual rate of processed food, beverages and tobacco remained at 1.4% for the fifth consecutive month. Oils and fats continue to be the most inflationary item in this group, with an interannual increase of 23.6%, although this rate has moderated in recent months.
Core inflation (which excludes the most volatile elements of the CPI, such as fresh food and energy) moderated in December one tenth, to 0.9%, and its average annual rate stood at 0.6% in 2015, compared to 0.0% the previous year. The slight decrease in December is explained by the prices of the BINE (Non-Energy Industrial Goods), whose annual rate decreased by one tenth, to 0.6%. The inflation of services remained at 1% and that of processed food at 1.4%.
The slowdown of the BINE was due, in turn, to the moderation in clothing and footwear, whose annual rate was reduced by one tenth, up to 0.5%, interrupting the upward trend that showed since spring 2015. This may respond to a greater advance of the first winter sales than in the past year. Among services, the moderation of two tenths in the tourism and hospitality item stands out, generated in turn by the behavior of organized travel prices, which slow down 1.2 points, up to 2.8%.
In inter-monthly terms, the general CPI decreased 0.3% in December and the underlying remained stable. The fall of the general index is explained by a decrease in the prices of energy products of 2.2%, due to fuels and fuels, and the BINE, especially the rubric of clothing and footwear, which notes a decrease of 2 %, for the advance of winter sales. The slight decrease in unprocessed food (-0.1%), especially of fresh fruit items (-2.9%) and fresh vegetables (-1.4%), has also contributed to this fall of the General Index. ).
The interannual rate of the CPI increased in December in all the Autonomous Communities, standing at positive values in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, the Basque Country (0.3% in the three), the Valencian Community (0.2%) and La Rioja (0, one%). In the Community of Madrid and Andalusia, inflation was zero and in the rest negative rates were recorded. On the other hand, the annual rate of the CPI at constant taxes stood at 0% in December, the same as that of the CPI General.
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (IPCA) for the month of December, whose annual rate is -0.1%, three tenths higher than the previous month. If this rate is compared with that estimated by Eurostat for the whole of the euro zone in December (0.2%), the inflation differential favorable to Spain moderates three tenths, up to 0.3 percentage points.
