Italy: Inflation accelerates in February
Consumer prices rose 0.10% month-on-month in February, following January’s 0.68% jump, which had marked the sharpest increase since the series began in 1995. The figure mainly reflected higher prices for transport and alcoholic beverages and tobacco which more than offset lower prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages and clothing and footwear.
Meanwhile, inflation came in at 0.6%, following January’s 0.4% and marking the highest reading in 20 months.
Core consumer prices, which exclude more volatile categories such as unprocessed food and energy, rose 0.1% from the previous month in February, following January’s 0.4% rise. Meanwhile, core inflation rose from 0.8% in January to 1.0% in February, while harmonized inflation came in at 1.0%, up from January’s 0.7% and the highest reading since April 2019.