Inflation falls to 1.9% in May but core inflation remains above 2%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) reaches its lowest value since last October.
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Inflation in Spain fell in May to 1.9%, but the underlying inflation index remains above the price stability level, at 2.1%, according to data published on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached its lowest value since last October, when it stood at 1.8%.
The European Central Bank considers that the best way to maintain price stability in the euro area is to have an inflation target of 2% in the medium term, according to the Bank of Spain. Therefore, the general index achieves a certain stability after the high percentages registered during the last year. However, the underlying index, which eliminates the effect of the most volatile prices, is above 2%.
Inflation in May
However, the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) fell by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year in May to 1.9%, and recorded a monthly decrease of 0.1%. With the slowdown in the year-on-year CPI recorded in May, inflation has now seen three consecutive months of declines in its annual rate.
According to INE, this moderation, which places the CPI at 1.9%, is mainly due to the drop in leisure and culture prices, lower prices in the transport sector, and a smaller increase in electricity tariffs compared with the same month in 2024.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise stressed that the favourable evolution of services related to the tourism sector, along with the positive performance of electricity prices, played an important part in this inflation decline. With the decrease in May, the core inflation rate returns to a path of moderation following a rise of 0.4 percentage points in April.
