Consumer prices (provisional)

According to preliminary estimates, in November 2019 the Italian consumer price index for the whole nation (NIC) was stable on monthly basis and increased by 0.4% with respect to November 2018 (up from +0.2% in the previous month).

The slight acceleration of the growth on annual basis of All items index was mainly due to prices of Processed food including alcohol (from +0.3% to +1.1%),of Non-durable goods (from +0.3% to +0.8%) and of Durable goods (from -0.9% to -0.1%), partially offset by the decrease of prices of Services related to transport (from +1.8% to +1.3%).

Both core inflation (excluding energy and unprocessed food) and inflation excluding energy were +1.0% (up from +0.7%).

The zero variation on monthly basis was due to opposite dynamics: on one side, the increase of prices of Processed food including alcohol (+1.0%), of Unprocessed food (+1.1%) and of Non-durable goods (+0.6%); on the other side, the decrease, mainly due to seasonal factors, of prices of Services related to transport (-1.3%) and of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (-1.0%).

The annual rate of change of prices of Goods was -0.2% (from -0.5%) and that one of prices of Services was +1.1% (the same as in the previous month). As a consequence, the inflationary gap between Services and Goods was still positive and equal +1.3 percentage points (+1.6 in October).

Prices of Grocery and unprocessed food increased by 1.1% on monthly basis and on annual basis (up from +0.5% in the previous month).

In November 2019, according to preliminary estimates, the Italian harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) decreased by 0.1% compared with the previous month and increased by 0.4% with respect to November 2018 (up from +0.2% in the previous month).