The CPI moderated to 7.3% in October due to electricity and gas, but food prices shot up 15%

Core inflation remained at 6.2%

November 15 () –

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased three tenths in October in relation to the previous month and suddenly cut its interannual rate by 1.6 points, to 7.3%, its lowest figure since January, just before the declaration of the war in Ukraine, when the CPI stood at 6.1%, according to the final data published this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The body thus maintains the interannual data of 7.3% that advanced at the end of last month, but has cut one tenth, from 0.4% to 0.3%, the monthly advance of the CPI initially estimated.

The inflation rate for October is 3.5 points below the peak reached last July, when the CPI climbed to 10.8%, its highest level since September 1984.

With the moderation registered in October, inflation adds three consecutive months of decreases in its interannual rate after it fell three tenths in August, to 10.5%, and in September it fell 1.6 points, to 8.9% .

FOOD RAISES ITS PRICES BY 15%, NEW RECORD

According to the INE, the moderation in the year-on-year CPI to 7.3% in October is mainly due to the drop in electricity prices and, to a lesser extent, lower gas prices.

The fact that the prices of clothing and footwear, due to the new autumn-winter season, have risen less in October of this year than they did in the same month of 2021, also influenced the moderation of inflation.

At the opposite extreme, in October food prices rose again. Its rate advanced one point, to 15.4%, the highest since the beginning of the series, in January 1994. Particularly noteworthy is the increase in the cost of legumes and vegetables, meat, and milk, cheese, and the eggs.

Within food, those that have risen the most in price in the last year are sugar (+42.8%); fresh legumes and vegetables (+25.7%); eggs (+25.5%), milk (+25%); oils and fats (+23.9%), and cereals (+22.1%).

Without taking into account the reduction of the special tax on electricity and the variations on other taxes, the interannual CPI reached 7.7% in October, four tenths above the general rate of 7.3%. This is reflected in the CPI at constant taxes that the INE also publishes within the framework of this statistic.

THE CORE REMAINS AT 6.2%

In monthly terms (October over September), the CPI registered a rise of three tenths.

Core inflation (excluding unprocessed food and energy products) remained at 6.2% in October, which is 1.1 points below the general CPI rate.

In the tenth month of 2022, the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (IPCA) placed its interannual rate at 7.3%, more than one and a half points lower than that registered in the previous month. For its part, the monthly variation of the IPCA registers a rise of one tenth.

(((WILL BE EXTENSION)))