- Core inflation increases one tenth, up to 0.8%, for non-energy industrial goods and services
- The price differential with the euro zone stands at a favorable point to Spain after improving four tenths
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased 0.9% in September in a year-on-year rate, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). This rate is five tenths lower than last August and coincides with that advanced by the INE at the end of last September. The decline in inflation is mainly explained by the sharp fall in energy prices, both fuel and electricity.
The prices of energy products registered an interannual rate of -13.6% in September, compared to -9.8% in the previous month. All the components of the energy index contributed to this decrease. Fuels and fuels reduced their annual rate by 2.3 percentage points, reaching -16.4%, especially due to the fall in the price of fuels and, to a lesser extent, gas. Electricity registered a decrease compared to August in its interannual rate of almost 9 percentage points, to -6.3%.
The annual variation rate of unprocessed food prices has moderated one tenth, to 2.6%, mainly due to the inter-monthly fall of fresh fruits. The annual rate of processed food, beverages and tobacco remained at 1.4%, mainly due to the evolution of the oil. Regarding a year earlier, this product is 29.6% more expensive, although that rate is 0.6 points lower than the previous month.
Core inflation (which excludes the most volatile elements of the CPI, such as fresh food and energy), increased by one tenth in September, to 0.8%. This slight acceleration is explained by the BINE (non-energy industrial goods) and services, which increased their annual rate by one tenth, to 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. The slight acceleration of the BINE responds to the thrust of the price of cars and services to inter-urban public transport, especially their departure from air transport.
In inter-monthly terms, the CPI fell 0.3% in September. This decrease is explained by the reduction of 3% of energy products, which responded both to a fall of 3.8% in electricity prices and of fuels and fuels that decreased 2.7%. Services also contributed (-0.8%), due to the decrease in tourism and hospitality (-2.3%), and to a lesser extent unprocessed foods (-0.2%), especially fruits fresh (-5.7%).
The annual inflation rate decreased in September in all the autonomous communities. Those that presented a higher annual CPI rate were: Balearic Islands (-0.4%), Catalonia (-0.5%) and the Basque Country (-0.5%). And those that registered lower rates were: Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha (-1.5% in both). On the other hand, the annual rate of the CPI for constant taxes stood at -0.9% in September, the same as that recorded by the General CPI.
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (HICP) for the month of September, whose annual rate stands at -1.1%, six tenths below that of the previous month. If this rate is compared with that estimated by Eurostat for the whole of the euro zone in September (-0.1%), the inflation differential favorable to Spain is extended by four tenths, up to one percentage point.
In summary, the annual variation rate of the CPI has been reduced by half a point in September, the same as last August, after six months of consecutive increases. The decrease has been due in both months, mainly, to energy prices and allows improvements in the purchasing power of salaries and pensions. The underlying rate has increased one tenth, to 0.8%, which reflects the dynamism of consumption. The inflation differential favorable to Spain against the Eurozone is significantly expanded, which allows for competitive gains in the economy, with the consequent favorable effect on exports, production and employment.
