Inflation accelerates to 2.6%, due to the push of fuel and oil

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) confirmed this Tuesday that the annual consumer price index (CPI) stood at 2.6% in August, which is three tenths compared to July, driven by the rise in fuel and some foods like oil. For its part, core inflation – which does not take into account unprocessed food or energy products – fell by one tenth to stand at 6.1%.

The rise in general inflation is mainly due to the increase in the prices of fuels and personal lubricants. Their prices have increased by 7.2% in just one month, although diesel remains 3% cheaper than a year ago, something that does not happen with gasoline, whose price is 6.7% higher than that of August 2022.

For its part, food products moderated their increase by three tenths, up to 10.5%, but they have accumulated 17 months of double-digit price increases.. The containment came due to the fall in fresh fruits and the stability of several dairy products.

On the contrary, the price increase of olive oil seems to have no ceiling and increased by 8.7% in price compared to the previous month.. Food is at 52.5% of its August price levels, the largest interannual increase in 21 years.

They also put downward pressure on prices associated with housing, which continued to decline in August and are already 18% below those of a year ago, thanks to the fact that the rise in electricity prices is lower than that recorded. in the same month of 2022.

FINAL CPI 2023

Finally, the variation in the cost of hotels, cafes and restaurants explains why inflation is not higher, since, despite having a rate of 6.4%, it drops by one tenth thanks to the fact that accommodation services increased less this month of August a year ago.

PRE-WAR LEVELS

With all this, the inflation recorded in August is the third lowest since April 2021, when it stood at 2.2%, which is why it remains at pre-war levels in Ukraine.. The same does not happen with the underlying, which remains high and in figures similar to those of August of last year, when it stood at 6.4%.

In monthly variation, consumer prices registered an increase of 0.5% compared to July, the month in which the CPI registered an increase of 0.2%, so inflation continues to rise.

Finally, the estimated annual variation rate of the harmonized consumer price index (HICP) stood at 2.4%, three tenths more than that registered in the previous month