August inflation falls to 1.6 %, shopping trolley soars to +3.5 %

Inflation slows down in August. According to preliminary estimates by Istat, the index shows a change of +0.1% on a monthly basis and +1.6% on August 2024 from +1.7% in the previous month. The prices of food, household and personal care, those in the so-called 'shopping trolley', show accelerating dynamics (from +3.2% to +3.5%), as do those of high-frequency products (from +2.3% to +2.4%).

The deceleration of the inflation rate was mainly due to the dynamics of the prices of regulated (from +17.1% to +12.9%) and unregulated energy goods (from -5.2% to -5.9%) and, to a lesser extent, to the prices of communication services (from +0.5% to +0.2%). On the other hand, prices of unprocessed (from +5.1% to +5.6%) and processed food (from +2.8% to +3.0%), those of recreational, cultural and personal care services (from +2.7% to +2.9%) and transport-related services (+3.3% to +3.5%) accelerated.

In August, core inflation, net of energy and fresh food, accelerated slightly (from +2% to +2.1%), as did inflation net of energy goods only (from +2.2% to +2.3%). The trend growth of goods prices moderated moderately (from +0.8% to +0.6%), while that of services expanded (from +2.6% to +2.7%). The inflation differential between the services and goods sectors, therefore, increased to +2.1 percentage points (from +1.8 in the previous month).

The positive cyclical change in the general index reflects the increase in prices of services related to transport (+2.1%), processed food (+0.7%) and recreational, cultural and personal care services (+0.3%); on the other hand, prices of unregulated energy decreased on a monthly basis (-1.7%). Acquired inflation for 2025 is +1.7% for the overall index and +2.1% for the core component. According to preliminary estimates, the harmonised consumer price index shows a change of -0.2% on a monthly basis, due to summer balances that the NIC does not take into account, and +1.7% on an annual basis (as in the previous month).