- The acceleration recorded in January is explained by the rebound in electricity and fuel prices
- Core inflation, which excludes the most volatile elements of the CPI, increases one tenth, up to 1.1%
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased in January 2017 by 3% year-on-year, 1.4 points more than in December 2016, according to figures published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The rate that coincides with that advanced by the INE at the end of last month. This acceleration is mainly explained by the evolution of the prices of energy products and, in particular, of electricity and fuels. In inter-monthly terms, the general CPI decreased 0.5% in January, compared to the 1.9% decrease in the same month of 2016.
The prices of energy products grew by 17.5% year-on-year in January, after the 5.3% increase registered in December. This evolution is explained by the rebound in electricity prices, which increased from 3.7% year-on-year in December to 26.2% in January, as well as fuels and fuels, which increased from 6% growth to 13.9%, due largely to the base effect derived from the sharp decline experienced in January 2016.
Food inflation stood at 1.1% in December, three tenths above that of the previous month, due to the acceleration of unprocessed food prices, six tenths to 2.7%, as well as at the slight acceleration in the prices of processed food, beverages and tobacco, one tenth to 0.3% year-on-year. Stresses in the acceleration of prices of unprocessed food the increase of more than ten points of the growth rate of fresh vegetables and vegetables, up to 17.9%.
Core inflation (which excludes unprocessed food and energy, which are the most volatile elements of the CPI) increased by one tenth in January, to 1.1%, due to the acceleration of the prices of non-energy industrial goods ( two tenths, up to 0.8%) and processed food (one tenth, up to 0.3%), partially offset by the slower growth in service prices (1.3%, compared to 1 ,6th of December). In inter-monthly terms, the CPI decreased 0.5% in January 2017, compared to the 1.9% decline in January 2016. By components, the prices of energy products rose 4.6%, after the decline in 6.2% a year earlier; those of services decreased 0.3%, after the stabilization of prices in January 2016; those of non-energy industrial goods fell 4.5%, down three tenths less pronounced than in January of the previous year; and those of food increased 0.7%, two tenths more than in January 2016.
Within the food group, prices of unprocessed foods recorded in January 2017 an inter-monthly rate of 1.8%, five tenths higher than in the same month of 2016, while those for processed foods rose 0.2 %, one tenth more than a year earlier.
The interannual rate of the CPI increased in January in all the autonomous communities. The highest increases were recorded in Castilla y León (1.8 points, up to 3.4%) and in Castilla-La Mancha and Comunidad Valenciana (1.7 points in both, up to 3.3% and 3%, respectively ). The lowest increases corresponded to Comunidad Foral de Navarra (1.1 points, up to 2.9%) and the Canary Islands and Catalonia, both with increases of 1.2 points (up to 2.5% and 3.1%, respectively) .
The interannual rate of the CPI to constant taxes stood at 3% in January, as was the general CPI.
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (CPI) corresponding to the month of January 2017, whose interannual variation rate stands at 2.9%, higher by 1.5 points than in December 2016. For its part, the rate advanced by Eurostat for the euro zone stood at 1.8%, compared to 1.1% the previous month, and the harmonized rate at 0.9%.
The CPI published today by the INE is prepared with reference to the new 2016 base. Likewise, as every year, the INE has updated the weights of the articles that make up the CPI, reflecting both changes in consumption patterns and methodological revisions of the index and improvements in the estimation of the consumption expenditure of the different articles.
