Italy's consumer price index rose in line with forecasts in April

According to the report from Istat, in April 2021 the rate of change of Italian consumer price index for the whole nation (NIC) was +0.4% on monthly basis and +1.1% on annual basis (from +0.8% in March), confirming the flash estimate.

The speed-up of All-item index was mainly due to that of prices of Energy (from +0.4% in March to +9.8%) and specifically to prices of both Regulated (from -2.2% to +16.8%) and Non-regulated energy products (from +1.7% to +6.6%); this dynamics was only partially offset by the trend reversal of prices of Unprocessed food (from + 1.0% to -0.3%) and of Services related to transport (from + 2.2% to -0.7%).

Both core inflation (excluding energy and unprocessed food) and inflation excluding energy were +0.3% (down from +0.8% in the previous month).

The increase on monthly basis was mainly due to the prices of Regulated energy products (+3.6%), of Services related to recreation, including repair and personal care (+1.4%), of Non-regulated energy products and of Food including alcohol (both +1.0%), only partially offset by the decrease of prices of Services related to transport (-1.2%).

In April 2021 the rate of change of the Italian harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) was +0.9% on monthly basis and +1.0% on annual basis (from +0.6% in March), confirming the flash estimate.