ROME (ITALPRESS) – According to Istat’s preliminary estimates, in September 2024, the national consumer price index for the entire community (NIC), before tobacco products, decreased by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis and increased by 0.7 percent on an annual basis, from +1.1 percent in the previous month.The deceleration in the inflation rate is mainly due to the prices of Energy Goods, both regulated (from +14.3 percent to +10.0 percent) and unregulated (from -8.6 percent to -11.0 percent) and, to a lesser extent, the slowdown in the prices of Recreational, Cultural and Personal Care Services (from +4.5 percent to +4.0 percent) and those of Transport-related Services (from +2.9 percent to +2.5 percent). These effects were only partly offset by the acceleration of prices for Unprocessed (from -0.5% to +0.3%) and Processed (from +1.5% to +1.8%) food goods.In September, “core inflation,” net of energy and fresh food, fell to +1.8% (from +1.9% in August) and that net of energy goods alone to +1.7% (from +1.8%).The trend in goods prices shows a slightly larger decline (from -0.5 percent to -0.8 percent) and that of services is decelerating (from +3.2 percent to +2.8 percent). The inflation differential between the services and goods sectors narrows to +3.6 percentage points (from +3.7 in August).The prices of Food, Household and Personal Care Goods return to accelerate on a trend basis (from +0.6 percent to +1.1 percent), while the year-on-year pace of growth in those of high-frequency goods softens (from +1.1 percent to +0.6 percent).The cyclical decline in the overall index was mainly due to the prices of Transport-related Services (-2.1%), Regulated Energy Goods (-1.5%) and Unregulated Energy Goods (-1.1%). These effects were only partly offset by the increase in prices of Unprocessed Food (+1.4%) and Durable and Semi-Durable Goods (+0.3% both).Acquired inflation for 2024 is +1.0% for the overall index and +2.1% for the core component.According to preliminary estimates, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) increases by 1.2 percent on a monthly basis, due to the end of summer balances that the NIC does not take into account, and by 0.8 percent on an annual basis (decelerating from +1.2 percent in August). “In September, according to preliminary estimates, inflation falls to +0.7 percent, the lowest level recorded since the beginning of the year,” Istat comments. The decline in the inflation rate is still due to the evolution of the prices of Energy Goods (-8.7 percent from -6.1 percent in August), but it is also affected by the slowdown on a trend basis of the prices of some types of services (recreational, cultural and personal care and transportation). In contrast, in the food sector, prices slightly increase their year-on-year pace of growth, contributing to the acceleration of “shopping cart” prices (+1.1% from +0.6%). In September, core inflation falls to +1.8 percent (from +1.9 percent recorded in the last three months).”
– Photo Agency Photogram –
(ITALPRESS).
