Spain’s headline inflation rose to 3.5% in September, boosted by the soaring cost of energy, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Thursday.
The 12-month inflation rate in September was higher than 2.6% in August and was in line with the 3.5% consensus forecast of analysts polled by Reuters.
The rate was the highest since April, when inflation was 4.1%.
Higher electricity prices and more expensive fuels were the main reason for the rise, INE said.
Oil prices are stoking inflationary pressures amid the current tightening of supply caused by the extension of output cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
“What we are seeing right now is that the oil price recovery is skewing inflation growth”, Manuel Cardoso from BBVA Research said in a phone-call, adding inflation is very likely to stand above 4% at the end of the year.
The inflation rate in Spain remained much lower than the 10.8% peak reached in July 2022, and is one of the lowest in the euro zone.
Tax cuts for energy bills and fuel subsidies have been part of the Spanish government bid to tackle soaring prices and it is contemplating introducing new measures or renewing some of the existing ones by year’s end.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, fell to 5.8% year-on-year from 6.1% in the period through August.
In its recent report, the Bank of Spain said it will slow down from the final stretch of 2023 onwards.
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