Final data published by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that in October, consumer prices rose by 0.9% per year after an increase of 0.7% in September. Economists also expected growth of 0.9% per annum. The acceleration was mainly due to the prices of processed food including alcohol (from +1.5% to +1.7%), of unprocessed food (from +0.3% to +3.4%), of non-regulated energy products (from -11.0% to -10.2%) and of services related to transport (from +2.4% to +3.0%). Meanwhile, the prices of regulated energy products (from +10.4% to +3.9%) and of services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (from +4.0% to +3.6%) slowed down.
ISTAT said that the core CPI - excluding energy and unprocessed foods - rose by 1.8% per year after a similar increase in September. CPI excluding energy increased by 1.9% per annum, accelerating compared to September (+1.7%).
On a monthly basis, the CPI remained unchanged, as expected, after declining by 0.2% in September.
The data also showed that in October, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Italy with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.3% on a monthly basis and by 1.0% per year. In September, HICP increased by 1.2% over the month and by 0.7% per annum.