Inflation goes up in Spain due to energy costs BUT food price rises are lowest in over three years

SPAIN’S annual inflation rate rose to 2.4% in November- up 0.6% on October, but food price rises were at their lowest for more than three years.

The National Institute of Statistics(INE) said on Friday that the overall rate went up due to increases in electricity and fuel prices.

Electricity costs rose 3.2 points to 7.4% year-on-year, and fuel prices went up by two points on an annual basis.

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Inflation has risen for two consecutive months, October and November, after four months of declines since the peak in May (3.6%).

Food inflation was meanwhile down to 1.7% last month.

Olive oil prices have fallen by 3.7% compared to November last year and had dropped on an annual basis since March 2021.

Overall, prices for the so-called liquid gold have risen by 154.6% since January 2021.

Other foods that have gone into negative territory are chocolate, with a decrease of 11.8%; other edible oils, which fell by 3%; and pizza, quiche and other cereal-based products, in both cases with a 2.8% reduction in year-on-year terms.

The core inflation rate which excludes energy and unprocessed food stood at 2.4%- down 0.1% on October.

Core inflation has essentially been falling for 16 consecutive months with the exception of May and October, which both recorded slight increases.

The Economy Ministry said that average inflation in the last 12 months has stood at 2.8% and is maintaining the downward trend compared to the peak reached in 2022.

It commented that it has fallen by one point compared to the average of 2023 and is almost three times lower than that of 2022.

“This reduction highlights the effectiveness of the economic policy measures put in place, which are making it possible to reconcile higher growth among the main economies of the euro area and contain inflation on a continuous basis,” the ministry said in a statement.