Lower electricity and gasoline prices slow the cost of living in March.

BarcelonaLower electricity and fuel prices halted the upward trend in the cost of living in Catalonia in March. Thus, prices for consumer goods and services for families remained flat on average between February and March, according to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Specifically, last month in Catalonia the CPI did not budge, with a 0% increase compared to the previous month. Compared to March of last year, the cost of living rose by 2.2%. In Spain, the year-on-year increase was one-tenth higher, at 2.3%, while compared to February the rise was slightly positive, at 0.1%, as already reported. The INE itself had announced this two weeks ago. Thus, the annual inflation rate is close to, but above, 2%, the maximum medium-term target set by the European Central Bank.

As for core inflation (which excludes energy and fresh food, which are more volatile), it closed last month with an annual increase of 2% for Spain as a whole, two-tenths less than the previous month.

Cheaper food

The fall in fuel prices and electricity bills was the main cause of the slowdown in inflation. Electricity and natural gas prices fell 4% compared to February, while the cost of fuels such as gasoline and diesel fell 2.6%.

As for food—one of the items that most impacted consumers' wallets during the inflationary crisis of the last three years—olive oil maintained the declines of recent months, and all oils calculated in the CPI fell 3.8% in one month. Similarly, the price of fish (both frozen and fresh) also fell sharply, in this case by 2.3% monthly, and vegetables fell 1%. In general, most food items became cheaper or experienced moderate increases in price in March, with the exception of milk and beef, which rose 0.8% compared to the previous month, according to the INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census).

At the other end of the spectrum, clothing, housing, and tourism and leisure services were the sectors that most pushed up the CPI last month: clothing and footwear rose 2% in one month, due to the traditional end of the sales period at the beginning of the year, the arrival of good weather, and the arrival of more foreign tourists after two months that are usually low occupancy.