Inflation rise in Spain: housing costs, transport and fuel price rises are the main drivers. However, the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages dropped in May 2024. Spain’s year-on-year inflation report for May was released on Thursday morning, coming in at 3.6%, which was in line with market expectations, according to the National Statistics Institute. However, it was above April’s 3.3%. This was mostly driven by increases in housing inflation, which saw a rise of 1.2 points, clocking in at 5.2%. A significant portion of this was due to electricity prices, which had reduced in May 2023, but spiked in May this year. Transport inflation also increased to 3.8%, boosted by increases in fuel prices, which fell less in May 2024 than in May 2023. Hotels, cafes and restaurants’ inflation also inched up 0.7%. Similarly, clothing and footwear inflation jumped up 2.3% this May, driven by stronger demand for new spring-summer collections.
However, food and non-alcoholic beverages prices dropped to 4.4%, mainly due to meat and fruits inflation slowing down in May 2024 from May 2023. Fats and oils’ prices also slowed down this May compared to the previous year. The year-on-year core inflation was 3%, in line with market expectations, but more than April’s 2.9%. On the other hand, the month-on-month inflation for May was 0.3%, which also met analyst forecasts, down from 0.7% in April.
Copyright Manu Fernandez/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.
