Consumer prices (provisional)

In April 2013, the Italian consumer price index for the whole nation (NIC) increased by 0.1% compared with the previous month and by 1.2% with respect to April 2012 (0.4 lower than in March 2013).

The Italian inflation slowdown was mainly due to downward impact effect of Transport and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels. The main cause was the decrease of prices of Fuels and lubricants (-2.2% compared with the previous month; -4.1% with respect to April 2012), of Town gas and natural gas (-3.2% on monthly basis; +2.2% on annual basis, down from +7.1% in March 2013) and of Electricity (-0.5% on monthly basis; +5.1% on annual basis, down from +9.5% in March 2013).

The NIC index increase with respect to the previous month was mainly due to the rise on monthly basis of prices of Communication (+2.2%) and Restaurant and hotel (+1.3%); on the latter ones, seasonal factors had an impact.

In April 2013, the Italian harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) increased by 0.3% compared with the previous month and by 1.3% with respect to April 2012 (0.5 lower than in March 2013).