- Fuels and fuels continue to decline, although with less intensity than the previous year
- Tourism and hospitality prices increase 1.1%, especially due to organized trips
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded a month-on-month increase of 0.2% in May, compared to a slight decrease a year earlier (-0.1%). Consequently, the interannual rate has increased three tenths of a percentage point, to 1.7%, according to data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This increase in the annual inflation rate has been mainly due to unprocessed food, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, services, particularly to organized trips, which decreased less intensely than a year earlier. , and fuels and fuels that have also decreased less sharply than in May 2012.
The annual rate of energy products It has continued to show a negative sign in May, although 0.7 percentage points less than in the previous month, until registering a fall of 1.8%. Fuels and fuels have mainly contributed to this. This last item has slowed its annual rate of decline from -1.2% in April to -0.1% in May. On the other hand, fresh foods have increased their annual rate by 2.2 percentage points to 4.9%. This is due to the acceleration in prices of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables and vegetables by 6.1 and 6, 9 percentage points, respectively, until reaching rates of 10.8% and 8.8% rise. Conversely, the moderation in the price of sheep meat can be mentioned.
Core inflation The stable core of prices has risen one tenth, to 2%, mainly due to the influence of the service sector, which has increased its annual rate by three tenths, up to 2%. This acceleration is due, to a large extent, to the heading of tourism and hospitality, which has increased its annual rate from a zero value in April to 1.1% in May. In this ascent the organized trips game has had a special relevance. The remaining large groups of core inflation, processed food and non-energy industrial goods (BINES), have not allowed to moderate the increase in the core. The first has reduced its annual rate by two tenths, down to 2.9%, and the BINES have maintained this rate at 1.5%.
The lower annual rate of processed foods was due, in particular, to tobacco, which practically maintained its prices in May, while in the same month of the previous year it rose 1.4%. To a lesser extent, dairy products have contributed to this lower annual rate. The main inflationary tensions in processed foods continue to be found in oils and fats, which place their annual rate at 23.2%, almost two points above that of the previous month. The BINES annual rate highlights a slight increase in clothing and footwear and in medicines and therapeutic material. On the contrary, a moderation of textiles and accessories for the home and utensils and tools for the home is appreciated.
The Autonomous Communities with the highest annual inflation rate in May were Cantabria (2.8%), Catalonia (2.2%) and Murcia (2%). In contrast, the least inflationary communities were Melilla (0.4%), Ceuta (0.8%) and the Canary Islands (1.3%).
The monthly change in the CPI was 0.2%, compared to the slight decrease of a year earlier (-0.1%). The monthly increase mainly responds to the item of clothing and footwear, which has registered an increase of 2.2% (with a high seasonal component) and, to a lesser extent, to fresh food. The latter increased by 1.6%, due to the increase in the cost of fresh fruits (5.7%), potatoes (5.5%) and fresh legumes and vegetables (2.1%). To a lesser extent, the contribution of hotels and other accommodation (1.5%), medicines and other pharmaceutical products (1.2%) and furniture (0.8%) should also be mentioned. Conversely, there has been a 1.2% decrease in energy products, as a result of 1.5% falls in fuels and fuels.
In May, the annual CPI rate for constant taxes increased three tenths of a percentage point, down to -0.3%, and the underlying rate rose one tenth of a percentage point, down to 0.0%. Within this index, the annual rate of energy was -4.4% and that of fresh food, 3.9%. Within the core of core inflation at constant taxes, BIN prices fell 0.6%, processed foods rose 1.6% and services prices fell 0.1%.
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (IPCA) for May, whose annual rate stands at 1.8%, 0.3 points above that of the previous month. When compared with the annual rate estimated by Eurostat for the euro area as a whole (1.4%), the differential unfavorable to Spain would increase by one tenth to stand at 0.4 points.
In short, the rise in inflation in May is mainly explained by the evolution of the prices of the most volatile components, fresh food and energy. Therefore, it is considered that it is a slight transitory rebound, estimating that it will return to the downward path throughout the rest of the year.
