A worker, in a supermarket. /
Light is responsible for this strong rise in the last month of the year, and to a lesser extent also food
Final explosion of prices in the last month of the year. Average interannual inflation in the month of December shoots up to 6.7%, a figure not seen for almost 30 years, back in 1992, which is more than one point above that registered in November, according to the advanced data published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). It also chains its twelfth consecutive positive rate.
The culprit for this high CPI is electricity, whose price, although fluctuating, has not stopped climbing to highs also in November, above 300 euros. To a lesser extent, food prices have also increased, something common in these Christmas holidays, and which are also compared with lower prices last year, as a result of the pandemic, according to the statistical agency.
On the contrary, the prices of fuels and lubricants for personal vehicles fell in December this year, in contrast to the rise they experienced a year earlier.
The INE incorporates in the advance of CPI data an estimate of core inflation (excluding non-processed food and energy products), which increased four tenths in December, to 2.1%, which is almost five points below of the general CPI rate.
1.3% monthly advance
In monthly terms, the CPI made its fifth consecutive rebound, rising 1.3% in December, one point above the rise recorded in November and its second largest monthly rise in at least two years after last month of October (+ 1.8%).
In the last month of 2021, the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HICP) placed its interannual rate at 6.7%, more than one point above the previous month. For its part, the leading indicator of the IPCA rose 1.2% in monthly rate.
The INE will publish the final CPI data for December on January 14.
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