INFLATION rose by 3.5% in October- the same rate as in September, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Tuesday.
Falls in fuel prices ensured the rate did not climb higher.
Crucially the increase in prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed down to 9.5% in the 12 months through October- the first time it has gone below the 10% mark since March 2022 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Average prices of oils and fats were 48% higher than a year earlier, though, with olive oil up a thumping 78% due to poor olive harvests.
Some vegetable oils though are 30% cheaper compared to October 2022.
Of 12 product categories included in the INE study, the biggest rises between September and October were in clothing, influenced by the change in season and the end of the sales period.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, was 5.2% in the 12 months through October, down from 5.8% in the 12 months through September, according to the INE.
Despite climbing during the summer, Spain’s inflation rate has been one of the fastest to decline in the euro zone after it peaked at 10.8% in July 2022 and reached below 2% earlier in the year.
Aranzazu Cortina, an analyst at Bankinter’s Analysis and Markets Team said that October’s inflation rate was a ‘lower than expected’ figure, but warned that inflation ‘is being more persistent than expected and is being volatile’.
“The tendency is to moderate, but perhaps some factors mean that instead of corrections occurring in a certain period of time, they occur in another,” he explained.
“All of this depends on how the impact of the increases in different sectors or intermediate products permeates other ends,” Cortina commented.
In a statement, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said: “The economic policy measures adopted by the Government have allowed Spain to maintain in the last year one of the lowest inflation rates and highest economic growth in the euro zone.”
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