Spain 12-month inflation rose to 2.6% in August driven by fuel

A customer buys apples at a fruit store in Ronda, Spain, June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/file photo

MADRID   -Spanish national consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in the year through August, driven by the increased cost of fuel, up from a 2.3 percent increase during the 12 months through July, final data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Tuesday.

The reading confirmed the flash estimate released by INE two weeks ago. Analysts polled by Reuters expected an average 2.6 percent.

The annual inflation rate increase was mainly due to higher prices of fuel and lubricants compared with the decline they saw in August 2022, INE said.

A few food staples such as olive oil and sugar, which rose more than 52 percent and 42 percent year-on-year respectively, also pushed the index up. But housing prices were lower.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, was 6.1 percent in the 12 months through August, down from 6.2 percent in the 12 months through July, INE said.

The 12-month European Union-harmonized inflation was 2.4 percent, the same level as the flash estimate and the forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

Despite the small increase in August, the inflation rate was one of the fastest to decline in the euro zone after it peaked at 10.8 percent in July 2022 and stands now close to the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target.

The European Commission on Monday lowered its 2023 EU-harmonized inflation forecast in Spain to 3.6 percent from a prior 4 percent, widening the gap with the rest of the euro zone, where it expects the rate to end the year at 5.6 percent.