Inflation at 2.8% in February
March 15th, 2013
Inflation rose one-tenth, year-on-year, over January and stood at 2.8% in February, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the National Statistics Institute this week.
Transportation had the most influence on the increase, with a rate of 2.8%, six points more than in January, due to the rising prices of fuels and lubricants.
Medicines rose by eight-tenths, year-on-year, to 12.9%, as a result of the increase in drug prices registered in the previous month.
Leisure and culture, meanwhile, increased by two-tenths, year-on-year, to 1.3%, due to the increase in the cost of organised package tours.
However, the Institute highlighted the drop of four-tenths in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group, to 2.8%, mainly due to prices of pulses and vegetables lowering, compared to the increase of a year earlier.
Other categories with significant annual increases include those of medicines and therapeutic material (26.2%), college education (22.3%), oils and fats (19.1%), potatoes and their preparation (18.2%) and eggs (14.5%).
As for core inflation – which excludes changes in the prices of fresh food and energy – it also rose one-tenth, to 2.3%, differing from the general index by five-tenths while, compared to the previous month, the CPI rose by 0.2%.
El Mundo reported that the Harmonised Consumer Price Index (HCPI) stood at 2.9% in February, one-tenth more than in the previous month.
Monthly variation
The monthly variation increased by 0.2%, against a drop of 1.3% in January, driven by transport (+1.4%), leisure and culture (+0.5%), rising prices of package holidays, other goods and services (+0.3%), insurance prices, and housing (+0.2%), and the increase in the price of oil for heating.
The clothing and footwear group had a negative impact of 1.8%, due to the end of the winter sales, and food and soft drinks also dropped by 0.3%, as a result of lower prices for fresh fish and sheep meat.
The highest rates of inflation were for Cantabria (3.6%) and Catalonia (3.3%). Annual inflation rose in fifteen regions, especially in the Balearic Islands, where it rose three-tenths to stand at 3.1%, and it fell only in the Canary Islands and Navarre, to 2% and 2.5% respectively.
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