Inflation interrupted its downward trend in July and registered an increase of four tenths compared to the previous month, up to 2.3% in year-on-year terms, due, among other things, to the rise in fuel prices and increased tourist activity, according to data released today by the INE.
The rebound in prices in July interrupted two consecutive months of decline. Despite the increase in the cost of fuel and leisure-related products, including package tours, there has been a drop in those linked to housing, especially gas and electricity.
Since in July 2022, amid tensions derived from the war in Ukraine, price increases reached a maximum of 10.8%, inflation had continued to moderate. Until now, it had only interrupted its decline in two months: February and April of this year.
Core inflation, which does not take into account energy or fresh food prices, stood at 6.2% year-on-year in July, compared with 5.9% a month earlier, although it is still some distance from its maximum, of 7.6%, registered in February.
Among the measures implemented by the Government to combat price rises are reductions in VAT on electricity or certain foods, in this second case conditional on underlying inflation being above 5.5%.
Transport prices continue to fall in year-on-year terms, but they are now doing so by 5.3%, less than a month ago, due to the increase in the cost of fuel and lubricants for vehicles, compared to the decrease in July last year.
Clothing and footwear also put pressure on prices, registering an annual variation of 2.1%, four tenths above that of June. The drop in prices for these products is now less than in July of last year.
Leisure and culture are more expensive, with increases at a rate of 7.2%, two points more than in June. This category includes tourist packages, whose increase is also greater than that of the same month of 2022.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased their variation by five tenths and reached increases of 10.8%. This behavior, explains the INE, is due to the fact that the prices of fruits, oils and fats have increased this month, while they fell in July 2022.
Worth noting in the month was the reduction in housing products, whose decrease was 14.9% in interannual terms, due to the decreases in products such as electricity and gas, which had risen a lot in July of last year.
