Final data published by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that in November consumer prices rose by 0.7% per year after an increase by 1.7% per year in October. Economists had expected CPI growth of 0.8% per annum, in accordance with the preliminary estimate. The November growth was the weakest since February 2021, which was due to the prices of non-regulated energy products (from -17.7% to -22.5%), of regulated energy products (from -31.7% to -34.9%) and, to a lesser extent, of processed food including alcohol (from +7.3% to +5.8%), of services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (from +5.5% to +4.6%) and of services related to transport (from +4.0% to +3.5%). Meanwhile, upward contribution came from the prices of unprocessed food (from +4.9% to +5.6%).
ISTAT said that the core CPI - excluding energy and unprocessed foods - rose by 3.6% per year after an increase by 4.2% per year in October. CPI growth excluding energy also slowed to 3.6% per annum from 4.2% per annum in October.
On a monthly basis, CPI fell by 0.5%, accelerating compared to October (-0.2%). Consensus estimates suggested a 0.4% decline.
The data also showed that in November, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) - an indicator that allows to compare inflation in Italy with inflation in European countries - fell by 0.6% on a monthly basis and rose by 0.6% per annum. In October, HICP rose by 0.1% m/m and by 1.8% per annum.