Final data provided by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that in February consumer price growth slowed to 2.8% per annum, as expected, from 3.4% per annum in January. The latest reading was the lowest in six months. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 5.3% after rising by 7.4% in January, while the prices growth for recreation and culture slowed to 2.8% from 3.1%. Weaker price increases were also recorded for various goods and services (3.3% vs. 3.4%), clothing and footwear (1.9% vs. 2.5%), furniture and household appliances (1.4% vs. 1.7%) and communications (0.4% vs. 0.5%). Meanwhile, housing and utility prices fell by 2.7%, offsetting the January increase (+1.5%). Cost rebounded for transport (2.4% vs -0.1%) and prices accelerated for restaurants & hotels (5.5% vs 5.4%). Meanwhile, prices for alcoholic beverages & tobacco rose by 4.7% after an increase of 4.2% in January.
Core CPI - excluding energy and fresh food - rose by 3.5% per year after an increase of 3.6% per year in January. The December increase was the weakest since March 2022, but still well above the ECB's target of 2%.
On a monthly basis, the CPI rose by 0.4%, accelerating compared to January (+0.1%). Economists expected an increase of 0.3%.
The data also showed that in February, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Spain with inflation in European countries - rose by 0.4% compared to January and by 2.9% per annum. In January, HICP fell 0.2% on a monthly basis and rose by 3.5% per annum.