MADRID –Petrol, olive oil and potatoes showed the sharpest rises in price last month, according to figures released Friday by the Spanish National Institute for Statistics.

The consumer price index showed a 1.4 percent rise compared with March – the biggest increase since April 2002.

The interannual figure rose 0.6 percent to 2.7 percent compared with the same period the year before.

Analysts put this strong rise to sales of clothes and shoes which showed an increase of 9.3 percent.

The inflation – which excludes the rise in fresh food and energy products – rose by 1.5 percent in April.

The year-on-year inflation rate showed a 2.4 percent rise.

In contrast to the rises in clothes and shoes, prices of transport and culture only rose by one percent compared with the month before.

Prices for hotels, cafes, restaurants increased by 0.7 percent; furniture by 0.6 percent; food and non-alcoholic drinks by 0.5 percent, housing by 0.4 percent, medicine by 0.3 percent, other goods and services by 0.2 percent and alcoholic drinks and tobacco went up by 0.1 percent.

The education sector showed no variation in prices in April.

In the food sector, fresh products rose by 0.3 percent, with an increase of 6.8 percent in the past twelve months.

In contrast, manufactured products went up by 0.5 percent last month – or 2.9 percent in the past 12 months.

The price of energy rose by 1.3 percent in April  – or 1.4 year-on-year.

Analysts said the rise in the price of clothing and shoes was due to people buying new wardrobes for summer.

The increase of 1 percent in the prices in the transport sector was due to an increase in the price of oil internationally.

But analysts highlighted the ten percent rise in the price of olive oil in April and 7.8 percent increase in potatoes.

The sharpest falls were in information technology (3.1 percent) and gas which fell by 2.8 percent.

Entre los alimentos, el INE destacó la carne de ovino, que se abarató un 2,6%, y las legumbres y hortalizas frescas, un 0,8%.

Mutton saw the sharpest fall among food prices, with a drop of 2.6 percent and vegetables by 0.8 percent.

La Rioja was the region which saw the biggest price rises – 2.2 percent, followed by Asturias with an increase of 1.6 percent.

They were followed by Andalucia, Valencia, Extremadura and Murcia which all saw falls of 1.5 percent.

The national average was a 1.4 percent rise in prices.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news