Italy Inflation Slows More Than Expected To 10.0%

(RTTNews) - Italy's consumer price inflation eased more than expected in January, on lower energy and fresh food prices, but core price growth accelerated due to increase in prices across a broad range of goods and services, latest figures from the statistical office ISTAT showed Wednesday.

The consumer price index rose 10.0 percent year-on-year following an 11.6 percent increase in December. The flash estimate was 10.1 percent.

Meanwhile, core inflation that excludes prices of energy and unprocessed food climbed to 6.0 percent from 5.8 percent.

Prices of regulated energy shrank 12.0 percent year-on-year in January versus a 70.2 percent surge in December, while those of non-regulated energy rose at a slower pace of 59.3 percent.

Fresh food prices grew 8.0 percent after a 9.5 percent increase in the previous month. Recreational services inflation slowed to 5.5 percent from 6.2 percent.

In contrast, prices of durable and non-durable goods rose at faster rates of 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively. Housing services inflation accelerated to 3.2 percent from 2.1 percent.

Services cost inflation climbed to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent. Compared to the previous month, the CPI edged up 0.1 percent, driven mainly by the increase in prices of housing services, processed food and durable goods, among others. The Italian harmonised index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose 10.7 percent year-on-year in January following a 12.3 percent increase in December. The flash estimate was 10.9 percent. The EU measure of inflation fell 1.5 percent from the previous month, due to the winter sales. Separate data from ISTAT showed on Wednesday that Italy's construction output grew 0.4 percent month-on-month in December. In the fourth quarter, the construction output rose 2.1 percent from the previous three months.

For the full year 2022, the construction output grew 12.7 percent from the previous year.