Final data published by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that in August, consumer prices rose by 1.1% per year after an increase of 1.3% in July. Economists also expected growth of 1.1% per annum. The decrease of the growth was mainly due to the prices of non-regulated energy products (from -6.0% to -8.6%), of durable goods (from -1.2% to -1.8%) and of services related to housing (from +2.7% to +2.5%). Meanwhile, the prices of regulated energy products (from +11.7% to +14.3%), of services related to transport (from +2.2% to +2.9%) and of semi-durable goods (from +1.1% to +1.3%) speed up.
ISTAT said that the core CPI - excluding energy and unprocessed foods - rose by 1.9% per year after a similar increase in July. CPI excluding energy increased by 1.8% per annum.
On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.2%, slowing compared to July (+0.4%). Consensus estimates also suggested a 0.2% increase.
The data also showed that in August, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Italy with inflation in European countries - fell by 0.2% on a monthly basis and rose by 1.2% per year. In July, HICP declined by 0.9% over the month and rose by 1.6% per annum.