- The underlying rate, which excludes the most volatile elements of the CPI, falls three tenths, reaching 0.9%
- The price differential with the euro zone stands at 0.3%, the same as in September
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 1.6% year-on-year in October 2017, a rate that coincides 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 in the prices of energy products and, to a lesser extent, by the slowdown in service prices and by the decrease in prices of non-energy industrial goods (BINE), partially offset by the higher growth rate of food prices, especially the unprocessed. In inter-monthly 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 3.9% year-on-year, 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 slow down 3.6 points, up to 7.8%, and those of electricity, which grew 3.4 %, one point less than in the previous month.
Food inflation stood at 2.3% in October, a point higher than the previous month. The prices of unprocessed food increased by 4.9% year-on-year, 2.7 points more than in the previous month, mainly due to the rebound in prices of fresh fruits, which went down from 2.7% 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 behavior of oils and fats, which rose 8.2%, six tenths more than the previous month.
Core inflation (which excludes unprocessed food and energy products, more volatile elements of the CPI) decreased 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%, after the 0.1% rise the previous month. On the other hand, the prices of services slowed down two tenths in October, to 1.6%, as a consequence of the evolution of tourist packages, whose prices went from growing 8.8% in September to 7.1% in October, and interurban public transport, whose prices reduced the growth rate by 2.7 points, to 1.6%.
In inter-monthly terms, the CPI registered a variation rate of 0.9% in October 2017, compared to 1.1% recorded in the same month of 2016. By components, the prices of energy products rose 2%, 1.8 points less than a year earlier; those of food increased 1.1%, 1 point more than in October 2016; those of the BINE increased 2.8%, three tenths less than in October last year; and services fell 0.5%, compared to the 0.3% drop a year earlier.
Within the food group, prices for unprocessed foods recorded in October 2017 an inter-monthly rate of 3.1% (0.4% in the same month of 2016), and those for processed foods of 0.1% , after stabilization 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 stabilized. The largest declines, 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 interannual rate of the CPI to constant taxes stood at 1.6% in October, as was 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 that of September. For its part, the rate advanced by Eurostat for the euro zone 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 zone of 0.3 points, identical to September.
