CdM | In July, the fall in electricity prices caused inflation to drop six tenths of a percentage point, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) falling to 2.8%, according to the final data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The moderation in food prices also contributed.
The CPI is thus at its lowest level since February and has now fallen for two consecutive months after the rises recorded in March, April and May.
For its part, the underlying inflation rate, i.e. the general index without unprocessed food and energy products, fell by two tenths of a percentage point to 2.8%, its lowest level since January 2022.
In detail, housing, food and leisure were the groups that stood out for their influence on the decline in the overall rate. The annual variation in housing stood at 3.2%, 1.9 points lower than last month, mostly due to the fall in electricity prices, which was greater than in the same month in 2023.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages prices rose by 3.1%, bringing their annual rate down by 1.1 points. This behaviour was mainly due to the fall in the prices of fruit and oils and fats, compared with the rise in July of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate for leisure and culture fell by 1.4 points to 1.6%, as the increases in package tour prices were lower than in July 2023.
By Autonomous Community in July, the CPI recorded positive annual rates in all of them. Galicia had the highest rate (3.1%) and Castilla y León and Cantabria the lowest (both 2.5%).
On the other hand, the annual variation rate of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) stood at 2.9%, seven tenths of a percentage point lower.
