The moderation in the rise in prices in the euro zone in the tenth month of the year was mainly due to the 11.1% drop in the cost of energy, compared to the 4.6% drop in September. In addition, the increase in the price of unprocessed foods was 4.5%, 2.1 points below the previous month’s figure.
Likewise, in the case of services, prices rose by 4.6% year-on-year, one tenth less than in September, while non-energy industrial goods became six tenths cheaper since the previous month, with an increase of 3.5 %.
By excluding the impact of energy from the calculation, the year-on-year inflation rate in October stood at 4.9%, compared to 5.5% the previous month, while by also leaving out the impact of food prices, alcohol and tobacco, the underlying inflation rate remained at 4.2%, three tenths less.
Among the countries that share the common currency, the lowest annual inflation rates were recorded in Belgium (-1.7%), the Netherlands (-1%) and Italy (1.9%), while the most intense increases of the prices corresponded to Slovakia (7.8%), Croatia (6.7%) and Slovenia (6.6%). For its part, Spain would remain above the eurozone average with 3.5%.