Spain released some mixed economic data on Friday with the 12-month inflation figure falling but also last month’s retail sales down 0.6% from the same time last year.
Last month, Spain boasted the lowest inflation in all of the 27-state European Union. According to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), inflation in the Iberian country stood at 6.7%, down from the July peak of 11%. The INE put December’s inflation rate rising at 5.8%. This is the slowest inflation rate year and partly due to electricity prices falling considerably over the last few months.
Economy Minister Nadia Calviño said in an interview with broadcaster SER:
“We make a very positive reading. Five points in five months … Core inflation is taking longer to come down because it took longer to go up.”
Earlier in the week, a third major package of economic assistance was agreed upon by the Spanish government in order to combat inflation. Some of the measures included a 200 euro bonus to households with an annual income below 27,000 and reductions in VAT on basic goods such as bread and milk.
Spanish Retail Sales in November Decline
The release of the latest Spanish economic data follows the tepid Spanish retail sales figures for November.
Spanish retail sales last month dropped 0.6% on an annual basis. The figure was worse than expected after retail sales in Spain increased 1% in October.
Food sales in Spain dropped 3.6% in November with the impact of the Ukraine war still being felt in European food prices and stocks.
Elsewhere, sales of other goods increased 0.5% on an annual basis.
