ARCHIVED - Soaring electricity prices push Spanish inflation to 9-year high

After low post-lockdown prices last year the annual rate stands at 3.3 per cent

The latest provisional data published by the Spanish government’s central statistics unit on Monday show that the annual inflation rate in August was 3.3 per cent, four tenths of a point higher than in July and the highest figure reported since the autumn of 2012.

This follows a period of 12 months following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic during which the rate was never above 0.5 per cent, dropping below zero between April and December last year, and much of the increase over the last 12 months can be attributed to the low prices after lockdown ended in Spain last year in the hospitality and tourism sectors.

However, the bulletin published on Monday attributes the increase mostly to the soaring cost of electricity over the summer, with new record wholesale prices having been reached regularly during August. At the same time, petrol and butane gas prices have also increased, making energy one of the most significant contributors to the overall rise in the retail price index.

As ever, it should be pointed out that these are only provisional data, but there is unlikely to be much variation when the final figures for the month are published during September.

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