ROME (ITALPRESS) – In October 2024, the national index of consumer prices for the whole collectivity (NIC), before tobacco products, recorded a zero change on a monthly basis and increased by 0.9 percent year-on-year (from +0.7 percent in the previous month), confirming the preliminary estimate. This was noted by Istat in releasing the final consumer price data. The slight acceleration in the inflation rate mainly reflects the trend in the prices of unprocessed Foodstuffs (from +0.3% to +3.4%) and, to a lesser extent, the easing of the decline in the prices of Unregulated Energy Goods (from -11.0% to -10.2%) and the acceleration in Processed Food (from +1.5% to +1.7%) and the prices of Transport-related Services (from +2.4% to +3.0%). These effects were only partly offset by the slowdown in the prices of Regulated Energy Goods (from +10.4% to +3.9%) and the prices of Recreational, Cultural and Personal Care Services (from +4.0% to +3.6%). In October, “core inflation,” net of energy and fresh food, remained stable at +1.8% and that net of energy goods alone rose to +1.9% (from +1.7%). The trend trend in goods prices shows a smaller decline than in the previous month (from -0.9% to -0.5%) and that in services is decelerating (from +2.8% to +2.7%). The inflation differential between the services and goods sectors narrows to +3.2 percentage points (from +3.7 in September). The prices of Food, Household and Personal Care Goods accelerate on a trend basis (from +1.0% to +2.0%), as do those of high-frequency goods (from +0.5% to +1.0%).
The cyclical stability of the overall index is affected by the opposite dynamics of several compo-nents: on the one hand, the growth in Regulated Energy Goods (+7.1%), Unprocessed (+2.7%) and Processed Food (+0.2%) and Miscellaneous Services (+0.4%) prices; on the other hand, the decrease in the prices of Recreational, Cultural and Personal Care Services (-1.3%), Unregulated Energy Goods (-0.9%), Durable (-0.3%) and Non-durable (-0.2%). Acquired inflation for 2024 is +1.0 percent for the overall index and +2.0 percent for the core component. The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) rises 0.3% month-on-month and 1.0% year-on-year (accelerating from +0.7% in September). 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.
“In October, inflation rises again to +0.9 percent, albeit in a context of cyclical stability,” the Institute reports. Sectoral trends appear, however, differentiated. In the food sector, the trend dynamics of prices are accelerating (+2.4% from +1.1% in September), with effects manifested on the “shopping cart” (+2.0% from +1.0%). In contrast, Energy Goods prices accentuate the year-on-year decline (-9.0% from -8.7%). Among services, the trend growth in Recreational and Cultural Services prices softens (+3.6 percent from +4.0 percent) while those of Transportation show a slight acceleration (+3.0 percent from +2.4 percent). In October, the inflation assumption for 2024 stands at 1.0 percent.”
– Photo Agency Photogram –
(ITALPRESS).
