Inflation falls both in Italy and in the Eurozone. According to the provisional data released today by Istat, in August the consumer price index grew by 0,3% compared to the previous month and by 1,1% on an annual basis, a slight slowdown compared to the +1,2 % of July. Inflation acquired for 2013 rises to 1,3% from 1,2% in July. Core inflation, calculated net of energy goods and unprocessed food, remains stable at 1,1%.
The decline at the Eurozone level was much more marked, where in August the price index recorded a growth rate of 1,3%, against +2,6% in the same month of 2012. The most significant increases reported by Eurostat are those of food, alcohol and tobacco, while energy prices fell on an annual basis by 0,4%.
Returning to Italy, the inflation trend in August is mainly attributable to the slowdowns in the trend dynamics of the prices of food and energy goods, only partially offset by the accelerations in the growth on an annual basis in the prices of services, in particular those relating to Transport. Compared to August 2012, the growth rate of the prices of goods drops to 0,8%, from 1,1% in July, while that of the prices of services rises to 1,5% (it was +1,3% the previous month). The inflation differential between services and goods therefore widens by five tenths of a percentage point compared to July 2013.
As for the so-called "shopping cart", the index that measures the price trend of the products most frequently purchased by consumers, in August it recorded no cyclical change, but it rose by 1,7% on a year-on-year basis, slowing down by three tenths of a percentage point compared to July (+2%).
