The decline does not stopinflation Italian. This morning Istat announced that – according to preliminary estimates – the figure was 0,4% in March, against 0,5% in February. This is the lowest level since October 2009. The consumer price index for the entire community, gross of tobacco products, increased by 0,1% compared to February.
As for the so-called shopping cart, the index that describes the trend in the prices of the most purchased goods, has risen by 0,7% on an annual basis, slowing down compared to February (1,0%) and thus marking the lowest value since November 2010.
In general, the slowdown in inflation is mainly linked to the year-on-year decline in the prices of unregulated energy and unprocessed food. Core inflation, net of these two items, fell to 0,9%, from 1,0% in February. Without considering only energy goods, the figure slows down by two tenths of a percentage point, reaching 0,8% from the +1% of the previous month. Inflation acquired for 2014 rises to 0,2%, from 0,1% in February.
Compared to March 2013, the prices of goods decreased by 0,4% (it was -0,1% in the previous month) and the growth rate of the prices of services decreased to 1,0%, from 1,2% in February. The inflation differential between services and goods therefore widens by a tenth of a percentage point compared to February 2014. According to preliminary estimates, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HIP) increases by 2,1% on a monthly basis and by 0,3. 0,4% on an annual basis, a slowdown compared to February (+XNUMX%).
Finally, a curiosity: yesccording to Istat estimates, the price of cigarettes fell by 0,5% in March on both a monthly and annual basis. This is the first time this has happened in the last 12 years.
