MADRID, 26 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Industrial prices decreased by 6.9% in May in relation to the same month of 2022, a rate almost 2.5 points lower than that registered in April, driven by cheaper energy, as reported on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With the year-on-year decline in May, inflation in the industrial sector chains three months of negative rates after ending a period of 26 consecutive months of increases in March, in which it reached double-digit rates for more than 20 months .

The decrease in industrial prices registered in May is due to the fall experienced by energy, which cut its rate by 4.5 points, to -24.9%, due to cheaper oil refining and, to a lesser extent, the production, transportation and distribution of electricity and gas, whose prices fell more than they did in May 2022.

Intermediate goods also had an influence, which cut their interannual rate by 2.5 points, to -4%, due to the evolution of the prices of the manufacture of basic iron and chemical products, and non-durable consumer goods, whose annual rate fell three tenths, to 10.9%, due to lower prices in the manufacture of dairy products.

In contrast, the only sector with a positive influence on industrial inflation was that of capital goods, which maintained its rate at 3.6% as a result of the rise in the prices of the manufacture of motor vehicles, higher than the experienced in May 2022.

In the monthly rate (May over April), industrial prices fell by 1.6%, with which they have already accumulated three consecutive months of declines after those of March (-2.5%) and April (-1.9%).

Energy was the driving sector behind this monthly decline in industrial prices, registering a fall of 4.9%, followed by intermediate goods, which fell by 1%. At the other extreme, non-durable consumer goods raised their prices by 0.4% in May compared to the previous month due to higher prices in the manufacture of oils and fats and in the production of meat products.