- Both energy products and industrial goods and services contribute to the increase
- Core inflation or stable price core has increased by two tenths, to 0.4%
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered an inter-monthly increase of 0.2% in November, compared to the decrease of 0.1% a year earlier. Consequently, the interannual rate has increased three tenths compared to October, reaching 0.2%, according to data published today by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The evolution of the CPI in November responds mainly to energy products, non-energy industrial goods (BINES) and services. On the other hand, food has kept its inflation rate moderate, to which its two major components have contributed, although fresh food has done so more strongly.
Energy products have registered an annual rate of -0.7%, compared to -2.7% last October. Among these, its main component, fuels and fuels, has increased its annual rate from -2.5% last October to 0.4% in November. This is the result of the moderation in the price of gasoline and diesel oil in November of the current fiscal year being much lower than that of a year earlier.
For its part, the annual rate of unprocessed foods has declined again, although less strongly than in the previous two months. The increase has been 0.5 percentage points, up to 0.4%, due among other factors to the moderation in the prices of fresh fruits and potatoes and their preparations. These rubrics have reduced their annual rate by 1.7 and 5.7 percentage points respectively, up to 4.3% and 6.7%. After this result, the strong rebound that these products registered in the May-August period of the current year continues to be corrected.
The potato is still the most inflationary item in this group, with an annual rate of 6.7%, a figure far from 37.3% recorded last July. The price of sheep meat has also moderated, although less, with a variation of -6.5% in November, which represents a rate 1.7 points lower than last month. Poultry meat has dropped -0.9%, rate 1.4 points lower than last month. In the opposite direction, fresh fish has evolved, with an interannual rate that has increased from 0.1% in October to 2.4% in November this year.
Core inflation or stable core prices has increased by two tenths, to 0.4%. This acceleration has been mainly due to the prices of BINES and, to a lesser extent, of services. BINES have increased their annual rate from -0.8% in October to -0.4% in November, mainly due to a base effect of the price of cars, whose annual rate for the month of October (-3.5%) has risen to -0.5% in November. The services have placed their annual rate at 0.1%, compared to the zero rate of the previous month, an increase that has responded mainly to the communications group that has registered a rate of -6.5% in November since -7, October 5th. This is the result of the transition of telephone services from a rate of -7.6% in October to another of -6.5%.
Processed food, including beverages and tobacco, reduces its annual rate by two tenths, up to 2.5%. This deceleration responds, fundamentally, to the items of oils and fats, which reduce their annual rate by more than 8 points (up to 7%). To a lesser extent, the moderation of the annual rate of other items such as the prices of alcoholic beverages and mineral water and soft drinks has influenced.
The inter-monthly increase of 0.2% in the general index is due, in particular, to BINES that increase 1.5%. This responds to the item of clothing and footwear that goes up by 5%, an increase that has a seasonal nature derived from the new prices of the autumn-winter season. Processed food increased 0.1%, as a result of the rising cost of milk, dairy products, and mineral water and juices. On the contrary, various components of unprocessed food influenced, such as sheep meat (-1.6%), fresh fruits (-1.5%), potatoes and preparations (-2.5%), fuels and fuels ( -1%) and tourism and hospitality (-1%).
Of the 17 autonomous communities, 14 have registered a positive inflation rate, the most inflationary being Cantabria (0.8%) and the Basque Country (0.6%). Three continued with negative rates of price variation: Canary Islands (-0.3%), Navarra (-0.2%) and Extremadura (-0.1%). In Ceuta and Melilla, inflation has been -0.3% and -0.6%, respectively.
In November, the annual rate of the CPI for constant taxes increased four tenths, to 0.2%, and the underlying rate for constant taxes rose one tenth, to 0.3%. In the constant tax index, the annual energy rate was -1% (-3.1% last month) and that of fresh food was 0.4% (0.9% in October). Within the core of the inflation underlying constant taxes, BINES prices stood at -0.4% year-on-year (-0.8% in the previous month), processed food rose 2.3% (2, 5% last month) and service prices increased 0.1% compared to a year earlier (compared to October stability).
The INE has also published the harmonized CPI (CPI) for November, whose annual rate stands at 0.3%, three tenths higher than the previous month. If this data is compared with the annual rate estimated by Eurostat for the euro zone as a whole (0.9%), the differential continues to be favorable for Spain by 0.6 points, although one tenth lower than in October.
In summary, in November inflation remains at very moderate levels, 0.2%, in line with the data anticipated by the INE at the end of November. This results in a gain in purchasing power in large groups such as pensioners, in addition to assuming, in general, a significant relief in the cost of living. Inflation is expected to remain at reduced rates in the coming months. Since core inflation remains higher than zero, no medium-term negative rate risks are identified. Furthermore, inflation is expected to remain below that of our main competing countries, with the consequent positive impact on exports and economic recovery.
