Prices stabilize in August and inflation remains at 2.7%.

BarcelonaPrices remained stable in Spain in August, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) this Friday. Thus, the change compared to July was 0%, while in annual data, the CPI grew 2.7% compared to August of last year, the same percentage as in July. The stability of the year-on-year CPI in the eighth month of the year halts the rise in inflation experienced in the previous two months.

Regarding price developments during the month of August, the smaller decline in fuel prices compared to August of last year prevented a smaller decrease in the CPI. In contrast, food prices performed better than twelve months ago, with a larger decline in prices, while electricity, which did rise, did so less sharply than a year ago.

The core inflation rate—which excludes more volatile items such as energy and food—rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 2.4%. Thus, although price trends remain below the February highs of 3.1% in Catalonia and 3% in Spain, they are still above the European Central Bank's target of inflation at around 2%.

"Price stability and wage increases are allowing families to gradually regain their purchasing power," the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business emphasized in its assessment of the preliminary August CPI data. The INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census) is expected to release the final August CPI data on September 12th. This will also include data on price trends by region and the trends in the different sectors and subsectors that make up the shopping basket.