Consumer prices - March 2026

According to preliminary estimates, 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% in the previous month).

The acceleration of inflation was mainly due to the dynamics of prices of Regulated energy products (from   -11.6% to -1.3%) and of Non-regulated energy products (from -6.2% to -2.4%) and of Unprocessed food (from +3.7% to +4.4%). On the contrary, the prices of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (from +4.9% to +3.0%), of Services related to transport (from +2.8% to +2.4%) and of Services related to housing (from +4.5% to +4.2%) slowed down.

As for Goods, the year on year growth rate was +0.7% (up from -0.1%) and for Services the annual rate of change was +2.8% (down from +3.6%). As a consequence, the inflationary gap between Services and Goods decreases (+2.1 percentage points from +3.8 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 (+8.9%), of Non-regulated energy products (+4.6%), of Services related to transport (+0.7%) and of Unprocessed food (+0.4%); on the contrary, prices of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (-1.2%) decreased.

In March 2026, according to preliminary estimates, the Italian harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) recorded a month-on-month change of +1.6%, mainly due to the end of the winter sales of Clothing and footwear (not considered by NIC), and a year-on-year increase of +1.5% (as in the previous month).