OVIEDO, Spain
Spain’s inflation rate hit 6.7% in December, the highest annual increase since March 1992, according to official data released on Thursday.
December’s inflation is 1.2 percentage points above the 5.5% registered in November, advanced figures published by Spain’s National Statistics Agency (INE) showed.
At the time, several economists suggested inflation was slowing down after it reached 5.4% in October.
Sky-high energy prices are the main cause of Spain’s soaring inflation rate, according to the INE, but increasing food prices are also taking a toll on consumers.
Preliminary data showed food products have surged around 5% compared to Dec. 2020.
As Spain experiences an unprecedented wave of coronavirus infections, the cost of services related to COVID-19, such as testing, soared 18.3% compared to last year.
Core inflation, which does not include the more volatile factors of food and energy, rose 2.1%.
In November, inflation across the eurozone reached 4.9% – the highest since recordkeeping started in 1997, two years before the euro was introduced.
Copyright 2022 Anadolu Agency. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
