Euronews business breaks down the latest inflation figures from Spain, Poland, Greece, and Ireland.
ADVERTISEMENTInflation in Spain climbed as it saw consumer prices rising by 3.4% year-on-year amid economic uncertainties.
This was in contrast to some other EU countries where inflation figures slipped. The Republic of Ireland experienced a slight fall in its annual inflation rate, while Greece saw a decline in January inflation compared with December 2023, and Poland saw a notable drop in its yearly inflation rate from December 2023 to January 2024.
Euronews Business breaks down the latest figures.
Spain consumer prices increase
Consumer prices in Spain rose in January, up from 3.1% in December and giving an annual inflation rate for the consumer price index (CPI) of 3.4%, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Spain's monthly rate of inflation has now reached its highest level in three months, according to new data from the country's statistical office.
Conversely, the annual rate of core inflation was 3.6%, showing a decrease of 0.2%.
The European Union-harmonised inflation (HICP) for Spain over 12 months was 3.5% in January, increasing from 3.3% in the preceding two months, in line with the initial prediction.
The CPI measures the changes in prices of goods and services consumed by households residing in Spain while the HICP is an inflation indicator used by the European Union to compare price movements across member states consistently.
Poland's inflation dropped significantly
In Poland, the yearly inflation rate dropped significantly to 3.9% in January 2024 from 6.2% in December, lower than the market's expectation of 4.15%, as reported by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS).
Ireland's inflation saw a modest increase
In January 2024 in Ireland, CPI increased by 4.1% compared to January 2023, a decrease from the 4.6% annual increase seen in December 2023.
Excluding energy and unprocessed food, the CPI rose by 5.3% in the 12 months to January 2024. The divisions with the largest increases in the 12 months to January 2024 were recreation and culture (+9.3%) and restaurants and hotels (+7.2%), while clothing and footwear (-1.3%) was the only division to record a decline compared to January 2023.
Consumer prices were down by 1.3% between December 2023 and January 2024, with clothing and footwear (-10.1%) and transport (-4.1%) experiencing the largest decreases. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+2.4%) was the only division that rose compared with December 2023.
"Today's publication of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows that prices for consumer goods and services in January 2024 rose by 4.1% on average when compared with January 2023. This is only the third time since September 2021 that the annual growth in the CPI was below 5%, while also being the third consecutive month where the inflation rate was lower than 5%,” said statistician Anthony Dawson from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Greece's inflation eases
The inflation rate in Greece decreased to 3.10% in January, dropping 0.8% from December 2023, according to the National Statistical Service of Greece, with the decline largely driven by specific changes in the groups of goods and services.
Clothing and footwear saw a significant drop of 22.3%, mainly due to winter sales. Housing experienced a slight decrease of 0.3%, driven by lower prices for municipal charges, natural gas, and heating oil, although this was partly offset by higher electricity prices.
Additionally, household equipment saw a small 0.5% decrease, primarily due to lower prices for household textiles.
