Fuels shoot inflation to the maximum since 2023
The cost of living for Catalan families increased by 4% annually in August
BarcelonaThe cost of living for families continues to rise due to the increase in energy prices. In August, the prices of the set of consumer goods and services in Catalonia shot up by 4% annually, the highest figure since January 2023, but lower than the Spanish average, according to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Compared to the previous month, price growth in Catalonia was 0.6%, one tenth less than the increase recorded in Spain. In the country as a whole, annual inflation stood at 4.3%, just as the INE had already announced three weeks ago.
The main reason to explain the price rise of the last year is the conflict in the Middle East that began last February. The attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, one of the world's main oil producers, and the response of the Ayatollah regime attacking American allies in the region have reduced crude oil and natural gas production globally. To this must be added the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil tankers pass and which Tehran has closed since February, which prevents the export of oil.
To deal with the energy price shock, during the spring the Spanish government approved a package of fiscal measures to alleviate the effects of inflation on families and on the most affected sectors, such as farmers or transporters. But these measures have been declining over the months, and currently only those designed for professionals and the reduction of the special tax on hydrocarbons (IEH), which starting September 1st was increased to 20 cents per liter.
The Spanish government must decide this month of September whether, given this scenario, it will maintain fuel subsidies and approve a new royal decree-law (the current one ends at the end of the month). Both the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, have wanted to send a message of calm, assuring that they will continue to help families and businesses in a context of tension and volatility in the global energy market, reports Núria Rius Montaner.
"We will not stop accompanying and supporting families in the face of the price hikes," the minister indicated in a statement. This month of September, the hydrocarbon tax applied to diesel maintains the reduction of 20 cents per liter. In contrast, the subsidy on the gasoline tax has dropped from 10 to 5 cents per liter.
Both Spanish and Catalan figures place the inflation rate at levels that, at the very least, double the medium-term target of 2% set by the European Central Bank (ECB). In this sense, the rising cost of living is a generalized fact in the rest of Europe even more than in Spain, since most countries in the European Union have a greater dependence on energy coming from the Middle East.
To try to curb price increases, last week the ECB raised basic interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, to 2.5%. Despite this, since the cause of inflation is an increase in energy prices caused by an external shock –the conflict in the Middle East–, the central bank's room for maneuver is limited, as if it continues to increase the price of money it could slow down economic growth which in the euro zone as a whole is already quite limited.Fuel, through the roof
The rise in fuel prices is the element that consumers notice most in their pockets. Between July and August, fuels in Catalonia became 7.5% more expensive and were 18.3% above the prices of August 2025. More specifically, the price of gasoline increased by 16.9% annually in August, while diesel soared by 30.3%. For its part, natural gas also rose, but more moderately: 4.4% compared to the same month last year.
The rise in energy costs has so far been noted in fuels and electricity –the electricity bill has risen by 10.3% on average in one year in Catalonia–, but it is foreseeable that, as happened in 2022 with the war in Ukraine, the price increase will end up being transferred in a few months to all products in the families' shopping basket, since companies will begin to pass on energy costs to their customers.