back down after the rise in April. Istat data – Corriere.it

In May, inflation also slowed down in Italy, even if it remained much higher than that to eurozone inflation of 6.1%, down from 7% the previous month. The consumer price index in our country drops to 7.6% on an annual basis, from +8.2% in April, according to the final estimates by Istat. On a monthly basis, the Italian increase of 0.3%, unchanged for the euro area. Inflation acquired for 2023 at +5.6% for the general index and at +4.7% for the core component.

The deceleration of the inflation rate still appears to be influenced by the dynamics of energy prices, in particular to the unregulated component, down on a monthly basis, to a lesser extent, of processed food. But these effects are stonly partially offset by the year-on-year rise in the prices of unprocessed food and housing-related services, explains the Statistical Institute.

The slowdown in the so-called shopping cart also continueswhich includes food, home and personal care products, which decreased year-on-year to 11.2% from +11.6% in April, just as the prices of frequently purchased products decreased (from +7.9% to +7.1%).

Core inflation, which excludes energy and unprocessed food prices, it slows down again, albeit slightly, going from +6.2% to +6.1%, as does that net of energy goods alone, equal to 6.2% from +6.3% in April.

Due to high prices, Italians have spent over 3 billion more on foodbut they had to cut the quantities purchased in the first five months of 2023, estimates Coldiretti on the trend of inflation in May, which highlights an 11.4% increase in the prices of food products, therefore higher than the average figure for inflation dropped to 7.6%.

While processed food slows down its growth (from +14% to +13.2%) unprocessed food accelerates (from +8.4% to +8.8%), in particular the acceleration in the prices of fresh vegetables has an impact or refrigerated (+7.6% to +13.8%). With food inflation at its highest for almost 40 years, household consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables decreased by 8%, according to Coldiretti elaborations on Cso Italy data relating to the first three months of 2023.

Based on preliminary estimates, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) increases by 0.3% on a monthly basis and by 8.1% on an annual basisdown from +8.7% in April.

The Italian rate is significantly higher than the euro zone average, down to 6.1% in May from 7% in April and 8.1% a year ago. As for the entire European Union, inflation in May was 7.1% in May 2023, down from 8.1% in April and from 8.8% in May 202. The lowest annual rates were recorded in Luxembourg (2.0%), Belgium (2.7%), Denmark and Spain (both 2.9%), while the highest annual rates were in Hungary (21.9%), Poland and the Czech Republic (both 12.5%). Compared with April, annual inflation decreased in 26 member states and increased in one.

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