Prices in Spain rose 3.2% in May, nine tenths less than in April, when inflation in the country had been 4.1%, the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed on Tuesday.
This evolution of the inflation rate (increase in prices with respect to the same month of the previous year) in Spain is due to the decrease in the prices of fuels and foods such as milk, cheese, eggs and fish.
There was also a stabilization in the price of bread and cereals, which had risen in May 2022.
Core inflation (which excludes energy and unprocessed fresh food) in May was 6.1%, five tenths less than in April.
Throughout 2022, Spain approved several packages of measures to deal with inflation of more than 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), around 45,000 million euros, including direct aid to consumers and companies and tax benefits, such as the reduction of VAT on electricity and gasoline to 5% or a discount of 20 cents per liter on the purchase of fuel.
In an attempt to respond to rising food prices, a new set of measures came into force in January, including the suspension of VAT (consumption tax) on some foods and products considered basic.
Spain closed last year with the lowest inflation rate in the European Union (5.7%), after having one of the highest values in the first half of 2022 and having registered the highest inflation in the country since 1984 in July (10.77%). .
In May, Spain continued to have one of the lowest inflation rates in the European Union, according to European data.
The inflation rate in the euro zone fell to 6.1% in May, driven by the slowdown in price increases in the food component and by the deflation of energy.
In Portugal, the HICP inflation rate (which allows for cross-country comparisons) was 5.4% in May.
Source: TSF
