MADRID, 29 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The General Index of Export Prices of industrial products registered an interannual increase of 5.1% last February, a rate six tenths lower than that of January, as reported on Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

It is the eighth consecutive month in which the interannual rate of export prices of industrial products moderates, which in previous months reached record growth in 16 years.

With the data for February, the prices of industrial exports chain 26 consecutive months of positive interannual rates, although that of January has been the smallest advance in this indicator since March 2021.

The interannual growth of February has been reduced with respect to that of January due to the moderation of the rates of intermediate goods and capital goods, compared to the increase shown by energy.

Specifically, energy raised its interannual rate by more than four points, up to -18%, due to the increase in the cost of electricity production.

In contrast, intermediate goods reduced their interannual rate by almost two points, to 6.5%, and capital goods cut it by five tenths, to 4.7%.

With regard to the import prices of industrial products, these increased by 6.5% in February compared to the same month in 2022, a rate almost five points lower than that of the previous month and its smallest rise since April 2021.

This evolution was influenced by intermediate goods, capital goods and energy, which cut its interannual rate by almost 19 points, to 4.6%, due to the lower cost of extracting crude oil and, to a lesser extent, coke ovens and oil refining.