Final data provided by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that in August consumer price growth slowed to 2.3% per annum (the lowest value since July 2023) from 2.8% per annum in July. Economists had expected CPI growth of 2.2% per annum. Prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 2.5% after an increase of 3.1% in July. Price growth also slowed for restaurant & hotels (4.6% vs 4.7%), alcoholic beverages & tobacco (3.6% vs 3.7%), clothing & footwear (0.7% vs 0.9%). Prices fell for transport (-1.3% vs 2.4%) and communication (-0.3% vs -0.2%).
On a monthly basis, the CPI remained unchanged, as expected, after falling by 0.5 in July.
Core CPI - excluding energy and fresh food - rose by 2.7% per year (the lowest level since January 2022) after an increase of 2.8% per year in July. On a monthly basis, the core CPI rose by 0.2% after a 0.3% decline in July.
The data also showed that in August, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Spain with inflation in European countries - remained unchanged compared to July and rose by 2.4% per annum. In July, HICP fell by 0.7% on a monthly basis and rose by 2.9% per annum.