Gasoline gives no respite and triggers inflation in September

BarcelonaThe rise in fuel prices—caused by the sharp increase in oil prices as a result of the war in Iran—gives no respite and is driving up inflation in Spain. Thus, this September, the cost of living for families has reached 4.9% higher than in the same month last year, the highest rate since February 2023, according to advance data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures the evolution of the prices of goods and services consumed by households) released this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

This 4.9% is six tenths higher than the interannual rate recorded in Spain in August, which was 4.3%. However, between last month and this September, the CPI has increased by 0.3%, four tenths less than the 0.7% growth between July and August. Regarding core inflation—which excludes energy and fresh food, which are more volatile—it stands at 3.1% annually.

Since last March, when the United States and Israel militarily attacked Iran, the price of energy has skyrocketed and has once again pushed up the entire family shopping basket not only in the State, but all over the world. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which approximately 20% of the world's oil and natural gas transited—by the Iranian government in response to the war has contributed to the rise in energy costs.

In this context, the Spanish government "has already approved two packages of measures," it recalled this Tuesday in a statement sent to the media, although most of the measures from the last one that are still in force expire this Wednesday. "Thanks to these measures, inflation has managed to moderate by up to one point for some months and households have compensated for around half of the rise in gasoline and diesel," the executive's note adds.

Faced with the end of the measures, this very Tuesday the council of ministers must push forward a new set of measures to mitigate the effects of inflation. Within the package, it is foreseeable that the government will maintain aid for diesel for transporters, farmers, and other professional groups that consume it for their activity: "support for the countryside and transport helps to contain the contagion of the energy shock to the rest of prices," says the government, which boasts that between March and August the cost of food in Spain has become 0.6% cheaper.