INSIGHTS
- Istat reports that in April 2023, a rise in non-regulated energy costs drove a 0.4% monthly and 8.2% annual increase in Italy’s consumer price index for the whole country.
- While the price of products climbed by 10.4% yearly, core inflation was 6.2%.
- The harmonized consumer price index also increased by 8.7% annually.
According to the most recent information provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, the consumer price index for the entire country of Italy (NIC) increased in April 2023. The rate of change was 8.2% on an annual basis, while the monthly growth was 0.4%. Comparing this to March’s annual rate of 7.6%, there has been a dramatic increase. The initial flash estimate for April was 8.3%, which was somewhat higher.
The increase in the annual growth rate of the all-item index, which accelerated from 18.9% to 26.6 percent, is principally related to the rising costs of non-regulated energy items. On the other hand, the annual rate of change for the pricing of regulated energy products saw a sharp decline, falling from minus 20.3% to minus 26.7%.
Energy and unprocessed food are excluded from core inflation, which was recorded at 6.2%, a little decrease from March’s reading of 6.3%. In a similar vein, according to istat, the all-items index excluding energy also decreased marginally, from 6.4% in the previous month to 6.3% this month.
A rising cost of products in the Italian market is shown by the annual rate of change in prices of goods, which increased to 10.4% from 9.7% in March 2023.
Additionally, the Italian harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) increased from 8.1 percent in March 2023 to 0.9% on a monthly basis and 8.7% on an annual basis. The HICP’s original flash estimate was somewhat higher, coming in at 8.8%.
The conclusion of the winter sales, which are not taken into account in the NIC index, is the cause of the discrepancy in the monthly dynamics between the HICP and the NIC. Some of these sales carried over into March. Clothing and footwear prices rose by 4.8% on a monthly basis in April, showing a recovery in these industries as the shopping season came to a conclusion.
