- The underlying rate, which excludes the most volatile elements of the CPI, fell three tenths, to stand at 0.9%
- The price differential with the euro zone stands at 0.3%, the same as in September
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased in October 2017 by 1.6% year-on-year, a rate coinciding with that advanced by the INE at the end of last month and two tenths lower than that of September, according to figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This evolution is mainly explained by the slower growth rate of the prices of energy products and, to a lesser extent, by the slowdown in the prices of services and by the decrease in the prices of non-energy industrial goods (BINE), partially offset by the higher growth rate of food prices, especially non-processed food. In month-on-month terms, the CPI has increased 0.9% in October 2017, compared to the 1.1% rise in the same month of 2016.
The prices of energy products increased by 3.9% in the interannual rate, 1.9 points less than in September, evolution mainly associated with the slowdown in the prices of fuels and lubricants, which went from registering a rate of 5, 5% year-on-year in September to 3.4% in October and, to a lesser extent, those of gas, which slowed 3.6 points, to 7.8%, and those of electricity, which grew by 3.4 %, one point less than in the previous month.
Food inflation stood at 2.3% in October, a rate one point higher than that of the previous month. Unprocessed food prices increased 4.9% year-on-year, 2.7 points more than in the previous month, mainly due to the rebound in fresh fruit prices, which went from a 2.7% decrease in September to grow 10.1% in October. The prices of processed food, beverages and tobacco increased 1% in October, one tenth more than in September, highlighting the performance of oils and fats, which rose 8.2%, six tenths more than the previous month.
Core inflation (which excludes unprocessed food and energy products, the most volatile elements of the CPI) fell three tenths in October to 0.9%, due to the slowdown in the prices of BINE and services, partially offset by the slight acceleration in the prices of processed food. BINE prices fell 0.2%, following a 0.1% rise the previous month. For their part, service prices slowed two tenths in October, to 1.6%, as a consequence of the evolution of tourist packages, whose prices went from growing by 8.8% in September to 7.1% in October, and interurban public transport, whose prices reduced the growth rate 2.7 points, to 1.6%.
In month-on-month terms, the CPI registered a variation rate of 0.9% in October 2017, compared to 1.1% registered in the same month of 2016. By component, the prices of energy products rose 2%, 1.8 points less than a year earlier; Those for food increased 1.1%, 1 point more than in October 2016; those of the BINE increased by 2.8%, three tenths less than in October of last year; and those of services fell 0.5%, compared to the drop of 0.3% a year earlier.
Within the food group, the prices of unprocessed food registered a month-on-month rate of 3.1% in October 2017 (0.4% in the same month of 2016), and those of processed food 0.1% , after stabilizing a year earlier.
The interannual rate of the CPI decreased in October in all the autonomous communities, except in the Canary Islands and Navarra, where it remained stable. The largest decreases, all of three tenths, occurred in the inflation rates of the Balearic Islands (1.8%), the Basque Country (1.6%), Cantabria, Galicia, and the Community of Madrid (1.5% the three ) and the Principality of Asturias (1.2%).
The annual rate of the CPI for constant taxes stood at 1.6% in October, as did the general CPI.
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (IPCA) corresponding to the month of October 2017, whose interannual variation rate stands at 1.7%, one tenth lower than in September. For its part, the rate advanced by Eurostat for the euro area as a whole was 1.4% in October, one tenth lower than the previous month, resulting in an inflation differential for Spain with respect to the euro area of 0.3 points, identical to September.
