MADRID, 28 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.2% in September in relation to the previous month and raised its interannual rate nine tenths, up to 3.5%, its highest value since last April, due to the rising prices of electricity and fuel.

With the advance in September, inflation has chained three consecutive months of increases after in July and August it rose four and three tenths, respectively, according to advanced data published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

In this way, the interannual rate of the CPI once again exceeds 3% after three months below this level and is at its highest level since last April, when it reached 4.1%.

Statistics has attributed the rise in the CPI in September to the rise in electricity prices, compared to the decline they experienced a year before, and, to a lesser extent, to the rise in fuel prices, in contrast to the price reduction recorded in September 2022.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation has stressed that the CPI data for September "reflect the base effect of electricity prices and, to a lesser extent, fuel prices", while highlighting that "Spain has more than a year among the countries with the lowest inflation and highest growth in the euro zone".

The INE incorporates in the CPI data preview an estimate of underlying inflation (without unprocessed food or energy products), which in September fell three tenths, to 5.8%, a rate 2.3 points higher than the CPI general and the lowest since June 2022, when it stood at 5.5%.

In this sense, the Department headed, in office, by Nadia Calviño has stressed in a statement that the economic policy measures adopted by the Government "are favoring the competitiveness of Spanish companies, the gain in market share and the increase in power acquisition of wages".

In monthly terms (September over August), the CPI registered an increase of 0.2%, three tenths less than what it rose in the previous month. With this rebound, inflation has chained four consecutive months of monthly increases.

In the ninth month of 2023, the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (IPCA) placed its interannual rate at 3.2%, eight tenths above the rate registered the previous month.

For its part, the estimated monthly variation of the IPCA was 0.6%.

The INE will publish the final CPI data for September on October 13.