Consumer prices - March 2026

In March 2026 the Italian consumer price index for the whole nation (NIC) was +0.5% compared with the previous month and +1.7% on annual basis (up from +1.5%), confirming the flash estimate.

The acceleration of inflation was mainly due to the dynamics of prices of Regulated energy products (from    -11.6% to -1.6%), of Non-regulated energy products (from -6.2% to -2.0%) and of Unprocessed food (from +3.7% to +4.7 %). On the contrary, the prices of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (from +4.9% to +3.0%) and of Services related to transport (from +2.9% to +2.2%) slowed down.

Core inflation (excluding energy and unprocessed food) was +1.9% (from +2.4%) and inflation excluding energy was +2.1% (from +2.5%).

As for Goods, the year on year growth rate was +0.8% (from -0.1%) and for Services the annual rate of change was +2.8% (from +3.6%). As a consequence, the inflationary gap between Services and Goods decreases (+2.0 percentage points from +3.7 p.p. om the previous month).

The month-on-month increase in the overall index was mainly due to the prices of Regulated energy products (+8.5%), of Non-regulated energy products (+5.0%), of Unprocessed food (+0.7%) and of Services related to transport (+0.5%); on the contrary, prices of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (-1.2%) decreased.

In March 2026 the Italian harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) recorded a month-on-month change of +1.7% and a year-on-year increase of +1.6% (from +1.5%); the flash estimate was +1.5%.

In the first quarter of 2026, inflation measured by the HICP, showed smaller increases for households with lower spending capacity and higher increases for those with higher level of equivalent expenditure (+1.0% and +1.6% respectively).