ROME (ITALPRESS) – In August, inflation fell to +1.1 percent from +1.3 percent in the previous month, mainly due to the widening of the decline in Energy Goods prices on a trend basis (-6.1 percent from -4.0 percent in July), despite the upward thrust recorded in the regulated sector. In the food sector, prices show a slowdown in their pace of growth, which contributes to curbing the dynamics of the “shopping cart” (+0.6% from +0.7%). On the other hand, support for inflation is due to the development of service prices, which is affected by tensions in the air transport sector. In August, core inflation remains stable at +1.9 percent. This is according to Istat data on consumer prices for August 2024. The national consumer price index for the whole community, before tobacco, increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month and 1.1 percent year-on-year (from +1.3 percent in the previous month), confirming the preliminary estimate. The slight slowdown in the rate of inflation primarily reflects the widening trend-based decline in the prices of Unregulated Energy Goods (from -6.0% to -8.6%) and Durable Goods (from -1.2% to -1.8%), but also the deceleration in the prices of Services Related to Housing (from +2.7% to +2.5%). In contrast, support for the dynamics of the overall index is due to the acceleration of the prices of Regulated Energy Goods (from +11.7% to +14.3%) and, to a lesser extent, of Services related to transportation (from +2.2% to +2.9%) and Semi-durable Goods (from +1.1% to +1.3%). In August, “core inflation” excluding energy and fresh food remained stable at +1.9%, as did “core inflation” excluding only energy goods, which still registered +1.8%. As a whole, prices of goods accentuate the decline on a trend basis (from -0.1 percent to -0.5 percent), while the dynamics of services are slightly accelerating (from +3.0 percent to +3.2 percent). The inflation differential between the services and goods sectors widens to +3.7 percentage points (from +3.1 in July). The twelve-month pace of growth in the prices of Food, Household and Personal Care Goods slows down (from +0.7 percent to +0.6 percent). A similar trend is registered for those of high-frequency purchasing goods (from +1.8% to +1.1%).The cyclical increase in the overall index reflects, for the most part, growth in the prices of Regulated Energy Goods (+3.5%), Services Related to Transportation (+1.9%, mainly due to seasonal factors) and Processed Food Goods (+0.6%). These effects were only partly offset by the decrease in prices of Unregulated Energy Goods (-1.0%) and Unprocessed Food Goods (-0.6%). Acquired inflation for 2024 is +1.1% for the overall index and +2.1% for the core component. The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) decreases by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis, due to summer balances that the NIC does not take into account, and increases by 1.2 percent year-on-year (decelerating from +1.6 percent in July); the preliminary estimate was +1.3 percent. The national consumer price index for blue- and white-collar households (FOI), net of tobacco, shows a positive change of 0.1 percent month-on-month and 0.8 percent year-on-year.(ITALPRESS).
Photo: Photogram Agency
