The inflation rate was 8.6% in October, down from 9% in September, according to data published by the National Statistics Institute (INS). This is the lowest inflation rate since August 2022.
According to the INS, this fall in inflation is due to a slowdown in the rate of price increases between October and September 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.
In fact, the annual rate of increase in the price of ‘food’ slowed from 13.9% to 13.1%, while that of ‘furniture, household equipment and routine household maintenance’ dropped from 9.1% to 8.8%.
In detail, the increase in food prices was mainly due to a 35% rise in the price of coffee powder, a 29.8% rise in the price of sheepmeat, a 28% rise in the price of edible oils, a 20.2% rise in the price of eggs, an 18.3% rise in the price of beef and a 14.6% rise in the price of fresh fruit.
The price of intermediate goods rose by 7.7%, due to a 6.1% increase in the price of building materials, a 9.7% increase in the price of clothing and an 8.6% increase in the price of household goods.
In services, prices rose by 6.2 % year-on-year, mainly due to a 10.2 % increase in the price of restaurants, cafés and hotels, a 14.3 % increase in the price of public and private transport, a 13.3 % increase in the price of financial services and a 5.1 % increase in the price of insurance services.
Core and regulated product inflation
Core inflation (excluding food and energy) remained unchanged at 7.4%. Prices of non-regulated products rose by 9.7% year-on-year.
Prices of regulated products rose by 5.2%, while prices of non-regulated food rose by 14.8%, compared with 2.2% for regulated food.
