Portugal Inflation Unrevised At 2.5%

(RTTNews) - Portugal's consumer price inflation moderated as initially estimated in January, the latest report from Statistics Portugal showed on Wednesday.

Consumer price inflation eased to 2.5 percent in January from 3.0 percent in December.

This slowdown is partly explained by the base effect associated with the end of the VAT exemption on a set of essential food goods and the increase in electricity prices, observed in January 2024, the agency said.

Core inflation that excludes energy and unprocessed food products also slowed slightly to 2.7 percent in January from 2.8 percent in the prior month. In the flash report, the rate of increase was 2.6 percent.

The annual price growth in energy products eased to 2.4 percent from 4.9 percent, reflecting the aforementioned base effect of electricity prices. Similarly, the price rise in unprocessed food products decelerated to 1.8 percent from 3.4 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices dropped 0.5 percent in January, as estimated, reversing a 0.1 percent increase in the previous month.

EU-harmonized inflation came in at 2.7 percent in January, down from 3.1 percent in December. Monthly, the HICP dropped 0.6 percent.