February inflation 8.2% YoY but foodstuffs hit 21.5%
February's inflation rate is the lowest since May 2022, when it stood at 8.0%. The unprocessed foodstuffs index is 20.1%, up from 18.5% in January, "the highest rate since May 1990".
The year-on-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell for the fourth consecutive time to 8.2% in February, down 0.2 percentage points on the previous month, INE said on Friday.
“Rounded to one decimal place, this rate coincides with the value of the flash estimate released on 28 February,” the National Statistics Institute (INE) said. February’s inflation rate is the lowest since May 2022, when it stood at 8.0%.
In February, the underlying inflation indicator (CPI excluding unprocessed food and energy products) accelerated to a year-on-year change of 7.2%, which is 0.2 percentage points higher than in January.
The change in the energy index decreased, also for the fourth consecutive month, to 1.9% (7.1% in the previous month).
On the contrary, the unprocessed foodstuffs index registered a change of 20.1%, up from 18.5% in January and “the highest rate since May 1990”.
By classes of expenditure, INE highlights the year-on-year increases in ‘communications’ and ‘leisure, recreation and culture’, with variations of 3.6% and 4.1% respectively (-1.0% and 2.7% in the previous month).
In the opposite direction, price changes in ‘transport’ and ‘housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’, decreased to 2.6% and 6.9%, respectively (4.7% and 8.1% in the previous month).
In February, among the categories making the greatest positive contributions to the year-on-year change in the CPI, INE highlights ‘foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages’, with a change of 21.5% (20.6% in the previous month), the highest value since May 1985.
The only classes with a negative contribution were ‘clothing and footwear’ and ‘health’.
Compared to the previous month, the contributions to the year-on-year change in the CPI from ‘food and non-alcoholic beverages’ and ‘communications’ increased. On the contrary, the reduction in the contribution of ‘transport’ is noteworthy.
According to INE, in February the monthly variation of the CPI was 0.3% (-0.8% in the previous month and 0.4% in February 2022). Excluding unprocessed food and energy, the monthly variation of the CPI was 0.3% (-0.3% in the previous month and 0.2% in February 2022).
As regards the average change in the last 12 months of the CPI, it was 8.6% (8.2% in January).
The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) registered a year-on-year change of 8.6% in February, identical to the previous month and 0.1 percentage points higher than the value estimated by Eurostat for the euro area (in January, the change in the Portuguese HICP had been identical to that of the euro area).
Excluding unprocessed food and energy, the HICP in Portugal reached a year-on-year change of 8.0% in February (7.8% in January), higher than the corresponding rate for the euro area (estimated at 7.4%).
In February, the HICP recorded a monthly variation of 0.4% (-0.8% in the previous month and 0.5% in February 2022) and an average variation over the last 12 months of 8.9% (8.5% in the previous month).
