(Reuters) – Spain’s European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation rate reached 2.4% in November, its highest level since August, stoked by an increase in energy prices, final data from the National Statistics Institute, or INE, showed on Friday.
The inflation rate, which was the same as the preliminary rate two weeks ago, was in line with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll.
It was above the 1.8% in the period through October, INE said.
The increase in both electricity and fuel prices in November, by 4.9% and 0.8%, respectively, contributed to the rise in inflation, INE said.
Prices of clothes and footwear also rose, while the prices of leisure and culture, which includes tourism, fell.
Spain’s annual inflation rate has picked up since it hit a two-year low of 1.7% in September. The rate now matches the European Central Bank’s 2.4% expectation for the full year in the euro zone.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, was 2.4% in the 12 months through November, down from 2.5% in the period through October, INE said.
Spain’s 12-month national consumer prices rose 2.4% in the 12 months through November, up from 1.8% in the period through October. The final data confirmed both the flash estimate released by INE two weeks ago and the forecasts by analysts polled by Reuters.
(Reporting by Maria Luiza Amaral; Editing by Inti Landauro and Kate Mayberry)
