Prices rose in Spain by 0.2 percent in January this year in comparison with the same month in 2013, said the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Friday.
This is 0.1 percent down on December, something the INE contributes to a fall in fuel prices compared with a year ago when fuel prices were on the rise.
Meanwhile the advent of the winter sales season meant that on a month by month basis, prices fell by 1.3 percent in comparison with December 2013.
The effect of the New Year sales was clear to see in the fact that new clothes and footwear were 14.9 percent cheaper in January than in the previous month, while other items affected by sales, such as furniture were also down in price by 1.4 percent.
Friday’s results confirm the data advanced by the INE two week ago and were greeted positively by Secretary of State for Economy Fernando Jimenez Latorre, who said the data was”proof of the culture of stability in prices which is being consolidated in Spain,” while adding that a low rate of inflation allowed Spaniards to maintain their buying power in the face of falling average wages.
The low inflation rate is the culmination of several factors, among them being the fall in transport costs as a result of lower fuel bills, while the price of communications continues to fall and are on average 6.9 percent lower than a year ago, due partly to the fierce competition between telecommunications operators in Spain.
This was balanced out somewhat by a rise in costs in questions related to the home, such as a rise in electricity prices at the start of the year.
Meanwhile it is more expensive (1.9 percent) to but articles related to education, while the cost of medicine (1.3 percent) and non-alcoholic drinks (1.2 percent) have also risen, all of these, plus the increase in electricity prices are all costs which will have a negative impact on the spending power of the average Spanish family./.
January inflation rises by 0.2 pct in Spain: statistics Related image(s)
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