Final data published by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that in April, consumer prices rose by 0.8% per year after an increase of 1.2% in March. Economists expected the CPI to rise by 0.9%. The latest change was mainly due to the prices of non-regulated energy products (-13.9% vs -10.3% in March), of services related to transport (from +4.5% to +2.7%) and, to a lesser extent, of services miscellaneous (from +2.3% to +1.8%), of non-durable goods (from +2.0% to +1.5%). On the contrary, the prices of tobacco (from +1.9% to +3.3%), of services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (from +3.2% to +3.8%) and of regulated energy products (from -13.8% to -1.3%) increased.
ISTAT said that the core CPI - excluding energy and unprocessed foods - rose by 2.1% per year after an increase of 2.3% in March. CPI growth excluding energy slowed to 2.1% per annum from 2.4% per annum.
On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% after stabilizing in March. Consensus estimates suggested a 0.2% increase.
The data also showed that in April, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Italy with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.5% on a monthly basis and by 0.9% per year. In March, HICP increased by 1.2% over the month and by 1.2% per annum.