16.01.2014 - 13:46
Madrid (ACN).- At the end of December, Catalonia registered a 0.2% annual inflation rate, according to the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). This figure is the lowest recorded in Catalonia at the end of the year since December 1978, when the INE started providing figures for each of the Autonomous Communities.
In the whole of Spain, prices ended 2013 posting an annual inflation rate of 0.3%, the lowest registered on a month of December since 1961; the very year such figures started being released. However, these are not the lowest annual inflation rates, since the record was set in July 2009, with a -0.9% annual rate in Catalonia. In monthly terms, prices increased by 0.2% in December in Catalonia on November figures and by 0.1% in the whole of Spain. The price increase was mostly due to the growth in oil prices, while leisure, culture and clothing helped to minimize the general increase.
Transportation and housing contributed to the annual inflation due to the rise in oil prices
In Catalonia, the inflation in December is primarily due to the increase in oil prices. Oil and petrol derivatives registered an annual inflation rate of 0.6% at the end of December, while the November rate was -0.1 %. Besides, in December 2013, oil prices rose by 0.5% on November figures, while in December 2012 they had fallen by 0.2% in monthly terms.
Another sector that has contributed to the annual inflation rate was housing, which rose from 0.5% to 0.6% between November and December. This trend is mostly due to the increase in the prices of heating oil in 2013, whereas the previous year they had fallen between November and December.
Leisure, culture, and clothing have minimised the annual inflation
While transportation and housing have contributed to the inflation rise, the entertainment industry, culture, clothing and footwear helped minimising such an increase.
Regarding leisure and culture, the annual inflation rate decreased from 0.2% to -0.9%. The prices of travelling tours have increased less than during the previous year.
In the field of clothing and footwear, the inflation rate has dropped from 0.3% to -0%. This past December, the drop in the prices of seasonal clothing has been sharper than in December 2012 (from -0.4% to -0.7%).
Core inflation
The core inflation rate in the whole of Spain, which does not include the prices of fresh food or energy, ended the year with a 0.2% annual rate, below the 0.3% general inflation.
The monthly evolution of prices reveals similar trends to the annual figures
In Catalonia, organized tours have contributed to a 0.2% increase from November to December. The 1.4% price increase was mostly due to shifting from the low season to the Christmas holidays and the bank-holiday weekend of the 6th of December.
The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages registered an increase of 0.6 % compared with November’s figures, following Christmas shopping. In this sector, fresh vegetables increased by 16.3% while the price of fresh fruits was lowered by 4.4%.
Transportation prices also increased by 0.5% following the rise in oil prices
While these three sectors were characterized by a rise in prices in monthly terms, the clothing and footwear sectors, in order to have a good Christmas season, lowered their prices by 0.7% compared with November.
