Inflation is running high in April, essentially supported by the tensions recorded in energy prices (+9.5% from -2.1%) and food. According to preliminary estimates from Istat, in the month of April the national consumer price index for the entire community, including tobacco, recorded a variation of +1.2% on a monthly basis and +2.8% on an annual basis, from +1.7% in the previous month.
The inflation trend mainly reflects the sharp rise in prices of unregulated energy (from -2.0% to +9.9%), regulated energy prices (from -1.6% to +5.7%) and the acceleration of unprocessed food prices (from +4.7% to +6.0%); on the other hand, the prices of recreational, cultural and personal care services are slowing down (from +3.0% to +2.6%) and of transport-related services (from +2.2% to +0.5%).
In April, ISTAT reports provisional data, “underlying inflation”, net of energy and fresh food, shows a slowdown (from +1.9% to +1.6%), as does that net of energy goods alone (from +2.1% to +2.0%). The prices of goods record a marked acceleration on an annual basis (from +0.8% to +3.2%), while those of services slow down (from +2.8% to +2.4%). Consequently, the differential between the services and goods sectors becomes negative, reaching -0.8 percentage points (from +2.0 pp in the previous month)
The cyclical change in the general index is mainly affected by the increase in prices of unregulated energy (+5.7%), unprocessed food (+2.1%), transport-related services (+1.6%), recreational, cultural and personal care services (+1.4%).
The inflation rate recorded in April was +2.4%. Based on preliminary estimates, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HIPC) records a change of +1.7% on a monthly basis, due to the end of seasonal sales which the Nic does not take into account, and +2.9% on an annual basis (from +1.6% in the previous month). (AGI)
Consumers: “Shock rise in inflation, blow for families”
«A shock rise. A real blow due to the war effect”, comments on the inflation data Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union, who calculates: “The trend inflation at 2.8% means, for a couple with two children, an overall increase in the cost of living equal to 1053 euros on an annual basis, a real blow, 287 euros for food products and non-alcoholic drinks alone, 304 for the shopping trolley. For a couple with a child, the total additional annual expense is 966 euros, 252 euros for food and drinks only, 269 for the trolley. On average, for a family the price is 753 euros, 198 for food and drink.”
For Assoutenti, with data such as for fresh vegetables which “increase by more than 22% compared to last year”, these are “price increases which affect primary items that citizens cannot do without, putting the budgets of less well-off households into crisis”: the government – says the president Gabriele Melluso – “must continue to cut excise duties and concessions for hauliers, and monitor with the utmost attention any speculation or anomalous trends in price lists, to avoid a dramatic drop in consumption which would have disastrous consequences for the Italian economy”.