Inflation in Catalonia shot up 0.9 percent in September to reach an interannual rate of 3.4%, the highest level since April (3.9%), according to Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has now shown increases for the last three months in terms of the year-on-year variation. In the month of September, food prices pushed up the total with an increase of 9.6% in relation to a year ago, especially notable in the case of products such as sugar (+45.8%) and vegetable oils (+38.7%). Across the Spanish state, the CPI has reached a year-on-year increase of 3.5% this September, one tenth of a percent above the Catalan figure, with the same increase of 0.9 percent in the last month.
Overall prices, then, were 3.4% higher this September than a year ago in Catalonia. It should be noted, though, that this time last year, the CPI was at 8.5% - that is, the price rises over the previous year were disastrously high. The indicator then showed a downward trend after the summer's historical records due to the lowering of electricity, gas and fuel prices. However, this year these products have once again caused a rise in inflation, since June.
As for the core inflation, which does not take into account the prices of unprocessed food or energy products, it has fallen to 5.8% and has declined for two consecutive months. When this indicator falls below 5.5% at Spanish state level, the government in Madrid will eliminate the VAT reduction for basic foodstuffs.