Inflation rose in June to 10.2%, its highest level in 37 years

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) has confirmed this Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up in June to 10.2%, rising to the highest level in the last 37 years. The annual variation rate of core inflation (general index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) increased six tenths, to 5.5%. It is the highest rate since August 1993 and places its difference with the general CPI at more than four and a half points. The agency highlights that food suffered a year-on-year rise of 12.9% last month, the highest rate since the beginning of the series, in January 1994.

With the rebound in June, inflation has chained two consecutive months of rises in its year-on-year rate after it moderated in April by 1.5 points, to 8.3%. Later, in May, it climbed to 8.7% and in June it exceeded the feared double digits. With this trend, it is understood that the first day of the debate on the State of the Nation was led by inflation, where the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced new measures with the aim of lowering prices.

According to the INE, the rise in the year-on-year CPI to 10.2% in June is mainly due to increases in fuel prices, fuel for heating, electricity, restaurants and hotels, and of food.

The groups that stand out for their influence on the increase in the annual rate are Transport, whose annual variation of 19.2%, more than four points above that registered in May, is due to the rise in fuel prices and lubricants, higher this month than the previous year. This increase questions the effectiveness of the Government's measure of subsidizing fuel consumption with 20 cents.

In second place, the products that have risen the most have been food and non-alcoholic beverages, which places its rate at 12.9%, almost two points higher than last month, and the highest since the beginning of the series , in January 1994. Worth noting in this behavior are the increases in the prices of fruit, higher than the previous year, of legumes and vegetables, which fell in June of last year, and of meat, bread and cereals and milk, cheese and eggs, higher this month than in 2021. On the contrary, the INE underlines that the prices of oils and fats have decreased compared to the increase in June of the previous year.

Another of the sections that increases the most is that of Housing, which increases its variation by one and a half points, up to 19.0%, but it is because the prices of heating fuels and electricity rise this month more than in 2021.

Finally, among the products that have risen the most, the statistical agency highlights the group of hotels, cafes and restaurants, with a rate of 7.2%, nine tenths higher than the previous month, caused by the increase in the price of restoration and accommodation services, higher than that registered in June 2021.

The annual rate of the CPI increases in June compared to May in all the autonomous communities. The greatest increases occurred in Castilla-La Mancha, with a rise of 2.1 points, and in the Region of Murcia, the Community of Navarra, Castilla y León and Aragón, with increases of 1.7 points in all of them. For its part, the smallest increases, of 1.2 points, occurred in Cantabria, Extremadura, the Community of Madrid and the Canary Islands.