Stat. Inflation slowed in January reaching 10.1%. Cart updated
Inflation remains in double digits but loses momentum in the first month of the year. According to preliminary estimates from ISTAT published today the national consumer price index for the community as a whole (INC), gross of tobacco, recorded an increase of 0.2% on a monthly basis and 10.1% on an annual basis, down significantly from +11.6% in December . This decrease was mainly due to the reversal of the year-on-year trend in the prices of regulated energy goods, with tariffs falling from +70.2% to -10.9%, and the weakening of unregulated energy goods, including fuels (from +63.3 % to +59.6%).
Captured inflation for 2023 (ie, the average growth that would occur if prices remained stable for the rest of the year) is +5.3% for the overall index.
The dynamics of the prices of food products, household items and personal hygiene, known as “shopping carts”, also slowed down, registering, on an annual basis, +12.2% compared to +12.6% last month. On the contrary, there is an increase in high-frequency products (from +8.5% to +9%). Prices for entertainment, cultural and personal care services slowed year by year (from +6.2% to +5.5%). The effects of these trends, Istat further indicates, were partially offset by the acceleration of prices of processed food products (from +14.9% to +15.2%), non-durable products (from + 6 .1% to +6.8% ) and housing-related services (from +2.1% to +3.2%).
The month-on-month increase in the general index (+0.2%) was, however, mainly due to prices for housing-related services (+1.6%), processed food products (+1.5%) , durable and non-durable goods (+0.8% for both).
The price trend in Italy is in line with Europe. Inflation in the euro zone is expected to stand at 8.5% in January According to Eurostat’s flash estimate, the unemployment rate dropped by 9.2% in December. Among individual components, energy prevailed (17.2%, against 25.5% in December). Among the countries with the highest inflation rate are Latvia (21.6%), Estonia (18.8%) and Lithuania (18.4%). At the other end of the scale are Spain and Luxembourg (5.8%).
Istat basket: tour and sports technology. Istat’s consumer price basket for calculating inflation has changed. This year, among the products that represent the evolution of household consumption, visits to the sports doctor (freelance), smartphone repair and smart audio equipment entered the basket. Among the products that represent established consumption are caught tuna and farmed turbot, walkers and beauty massages. There are 1,885 primary products (1,772 in 2022) in the basket that makes it possible to calculate Nic inflation (for the entire national community) and Foi inflation (for worker and employee households). In 2023, explains the Statistical Institute, the most relevant innovations are of a methodological nature and involve the use of new methods for the automatic entry (web scraping) of air transport prices and the use of the Iqvia database for pharmaceutical products, which will benefit the efficiency of the survey and the accuracy of the index estimates for these products. Compared to the Nic index, the weight of the divisions increases in 2023: Accommodation and food services (+1.9 percentage points), Housing, water, electricity and fuel (+0.8 percentage points) and Leisure, entertainment and culture (+0.7) percentage point ).
Re before the sports medical examination (freelance) relating to the regulations implemented regarding medical certification for sports and non-competitive activities; smartphone repair an increasingly popular service, which falls under the new subclass Repair of telephone or fax equipment. And they entered smart audio equipment (collectively Embedded Devices): these are voice assistants that, through software, can be integrated into loudspeakers and other smart devices that, by interpreting natural language, able to interact with people. Among the products entered to improve the representativeness of the basket are also some types of organic fruits and vegetables and seedless grapes. As for clothing, women’s leggings or jeggings are also included in addition to other products in the women’s pants collection.
