2024.01.0512:17:00UTC+00Italy Inflation Eases Further To 0.6%, Lowest In Nearly 3 Years

Italy's consumer price inflation eased further in December to the lowest level in nearly three years, preliminary data from the statistical office, ISTAT, showed on Friday.

The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent year-over-year in December, slightly slower than the 0.7 percent gain in the previous month. Meanwhile, economists had forecast inflation to remain stable at 0.7 percent.

Further, this was the weakest inflation since February 2021, when prices had risen the same 0.6 percent.

The slowdown in inflation was mainly due to energy prices. Prices for regulated energy products plunged by 41.7 percent, and those of non-regulated products tumbled by 21.1 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food, slowed to 3.1 percent from 3.6 percent in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices moved up 0.2 percent in December.

Inflation, based on the harmonised index of consumer prices, stood at 0.5 percent in December versus 0.6 percent in November. Month-on-month, the HICP posted an increase of 0.2 percent.

During the whole year 2023, consumer price inflation was 5.7 percent, down from 8.1 percent in 2022.