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(Reuters) – Spain’s annual inflation rate fell to 3. 2% in November thanks to lower fuel and package tours, early data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Wednesday.
The 12-month inflation rate was lower than October’s reading of 3.5% and below the 3.7% expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
The drop in inflation bodes well for the country’s overall economy, Economy Minister Nadia Calviño said in a statement.
“Wages have increased their purchasing power and the competitiveness of Spanish companies has been increasing their market share, despite a complicated external environment,” he said.
Electricity costs, as well as those for food and non-alcoholic beverages, also contributed to the fall in annual inflation, the INE said.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile new food and energy prices, is 4. 5% year-on-year, the slowest rate since 4. 4% in the 12 months to April 2022, according to INE data.
Spain’s European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation was 3.2%, down from 3.5% in October and below the 3.7% expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
Spanish inflation has recently been one of the lowest in the eurozone and remains above the European Central Bank’s 2% target.
(Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by Inti Landauro and Christina Fincher)