Spanish prices hold steady in December as core annual inflation drops

Spanish inflation remained unchanged in December, according to flash estimates released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute.

The consumer price index was unchanged this month, after a 0.3% fall in November, surprising economists who had pencilled in a 0.3% increase in prices.

The annual increase in prices, meanwhile, slowed to 3.1% in December after a 3.2% gain in November, coming in below the consensus forecast of 3.3%. This was the lowest rate of annual inflation since August.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, declined to 3.8% from 4.5% the month before, dropping to its lowest since March 2022.