Inflation moderates to 2% at the start of the year in Catalonia
The drop in prices in January is mainly explained by the cost of energy
Prices in Catalonia began the year following the downward trend, with year-on-year inflation reaching 2% in January, four-tenths of a percentage point lower than the previous month, according to data published this Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The decrease is mainly explained by the evolution of energy prices and consolidates the slowdown that began in recent months. This also places it three-tenths of a percentage point below the national average (2.3%), and for the eleventh consecutive month, the cost of living has risen less in Catalonia than in Spain as a whole. The Principality was the sixth autonomous community with the smallest increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures the evolution of the cost of living), after La Rioja, Murcia, Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Asturias, where the rate fell by a further tenth of a percentage point to 1.9%. In contrast, the regions where prices rose the most were the Community of Madrid (+3%), Ceuta (+2.9%), and Cantabria and the Valencian Community (+2.5%). In Catalonia, the product groups that saw the largest price increases in January compared to the same month of the previous year were insurance and financial services (5.9%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (4.5%), followed by restaurants and accommodation services (3.7%), while transportation (-0.7%) registered decreases. By region, Tarragona led the year-on-year increase in the CPI at the start of this year, with a rise of 2.1%, followed by 2% in Barcelona and Girona, and 1.6% in Lleida. In Spain, year-on-year inflation stood at 2.3% in January, six tenths of a percentage point lower than the previous month's figure and one tenth of a percentage point lower than the initial estimate from the National Statistics Institute (INE). This is the largest decrease since March of last year and is mainly explained by the moderation of energy prices. The final figure published this Friday thus reaffirms the trend of price moderation observed in recent months. With this result, inflation continues to approach the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of around 2%. The Ministry of Economy has highlighted that, over the course of 2025, the aggregate purchasing power of households increased by 1.5% thanks to wage increases that outpaced average inflation for the year. Food Prices
As for core inflation—which excludes energy and fresh food prices due to their greater volatility—this indicator remains stable at 2.6% for the third consecutive month. Food prices, which had previously been at the forefront of the price crisis, moderated their increase by one-tenth of a percentage point compared to December.
By product, egg prices continue to soar, up 30.7% compared to last year, but significant price increases were also recorded for beef (+16.3%), coffee, cocoa, and infusions (+10.9%), and lamb and mutton (+6.9%). Conversely, after the sharp price increases following the war in Ukraine, oils and fats have become 19% cheaper in the last year, while sugar has decreased by 4.9%.
In a statement, the CCOO union in Catalonia highlighted this decrease in inflation and the expectation that it will normalize in Catalonia over the coming months, but warned about the "resistance" of food prices to falling. The union called for caution "in the face of underlying inflation that refuses to decrease" and noted that the smaller increase in Housing prices as recorded by the CPI should be taken "with great caution," because "This statistical source has many limitations." when it comes to capturing the evolution of housing prices."
For its part, UGT has demanded wage increases given the current expansionary economic context, from which "a large part of the business sector has benefited to a greater extent," accumulating profit margins that are at record levels in the last five years. The increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), which will be set at 1,221 euros per month in 14 payments in 2026, maintaining the exemption from Personal Income Tax (IRPF) already applied. middle income brackets.
The employers' association Pimec, for its part, has urged the consolidation of inflationary moderation in Catalonia to avoid a loss of competitiveness in the region, and considers that the current scenario offers "an opportunity to strengthen investments as long as new cost increases are avoided."
