The cost of living falls in September despite rising fuel prices.

BarcelonaThe cost of living for Spanish families has fallen this September compared to August, although fuel and, to a lesser extent, electricity prices have risen almost 3% above year-ago levels, according to advance data on the Consumer Price Index (CPI, the indicator that measures the cost of living) published this Monday by the Institute.

Specifically, the total amount of consumer goods and services for households has fallen by 0.4% this month compared to the previous month. This is the third consecutive month without increases, as the monthly variation was 0% in August and -0.1% in July.

On the other hand, the rise in fuel and electricity prices in recent months has once again pushed up the cost of living, the CPI, compared to September 2024. Prices have thus increased this month by an average of 2.9% compared to September of last year across the country. the annual rate recorded in August in Spain as a whole.

The phenomenon of the CPI rising year-over-year when prices have fallen month-over-month is mathematically known as base effectIn this case, prices have fallen in the last three months, but they rose during the remaining nine months of the last year, primarily due to the rise in energy prices. This explains why, despite having recently fallen in price, the cost of living has increased when looking beyond this most recent period of decline and comparing it with a year ago.

As for core inflation—which excludes the most volatile items such as energy and fresh food—it rose 2.3% annually, placing the rate below the general CPI for the fourth consecutive month.

These data are provisional, and the INE will release the final figures on October 15, when they will also be published broken down by autonomous communities.

[We are working to expand this information.]