The Consumer Price Index (CPI) raised its interannual rate to 6.5% in December, one point above the figure registered in November and its highest level in 29 years despite the drop of two tenths on . This closing of the year places the average inflation of 2021 at 3.1%, its highest level since 2011.
According to the final data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the year-on-year data for December is the highest since May 1992 and with it the CPI chains its twelfth consecutive positive rate.
In monthly rate, prices chained their fifth consecutive rise after rising 1.2% in December in relation to the previous month, one tenth less than what was advanced by Statistics.
Electricity became 72% more expensive in 2021
The rise in prices has especially contributed to the rise in electricity and food prices, especially legumes, vegetables, bread, cereals and meat. Specifically, electricity became more expensive in the last year by 72% including the tax reductions applied to the electricity bill (if the tax reductions are discounted, the year-on-year increase in the price of electricity would be 96.8%).
Accommodation and restaurant services also raised their prices above what they did a year earlier. By contrast, the prices of fuels and lubricants for personal vehicles fell in December this year, in contrast to the rise they experienced in 2020.
After electricity, the biggest rise in the year was recorded by liquid fuels (+45.4%), butane and propane (+33.3%), other oils (+30.5%) and olive oil ( +26.7%).
On the opposite side, what has become cheaper since December 2020 were tolls and parking (-22.5%); mobile telephony equipment (-5.1%); maritime passenger transport (-3.6%); other computer media (-2%); mobile telephony services (-1.4%); personal computers (-1.2%) and prescription glasses and contact lenses (-1%).
The CPI at constant taxes (without taking into account the reduction of the special tax on electricity and the variations on other taxes) reached an interannual rate of 7.3%, eight tenths more than the general rate of 6.5%.
Moving the data on the map, the annual rate of the CPI increased in December compared to November in all the autonomous communities, but the greatest increases occurred in Andalusia and the Basque Country, with a rise of 1.3 points in both; The Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Galicia registered the smallest increases, with an increase of eight tenths in all of them.
At the end of 2021, all regions presented positive year-on-year rates. The highest correspond to Castilla-La Mancha (7.6%), Castilla y León (7.3%), Aragón (7.2%) and Extremadura (7.1%), all of them above 7%, while the most moderate upturns occurred in the Canary Islands, with a rate of 5.8%; Catalonia (6.1%), and Madrid and Asturias, both with a rate of 6.2%.
As for core inflation (which does not include unprocessed food or energy products) it increased four tenths in December, to 2.1%, which is almost 4.5 points below the rate of the general CPI. It is the highest rate of the underlying since March 2013.
In the last month of 2021, the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (IPCA) placed its interannual rate at 6.6%, more than one point above the previous month. For its part, the advance indicator of the IPCA rose by 1.1% in monthly rate.
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