Spanish Inflation Holds at 4.9% in October Despite 0.6% Monthly Price Rise
Key Facts
Spain’s National Statistics Institute estimated annual inflation, measured by the consumer price index, at 4.9% in October, unchanged from September, in a preliminary reading that kept the rate at its level in the previous month. The institute said the advanced annual index recorded the same rate in both periods, reflecting no change in the annual rate of consumer price growth. But this annual stability coincided with a 0.6% rise in consumer prices in October compared with September. The difference between the two measures shows that the stable annual rate did not mean monthly prices stopped rising. October’s reading remains an estimate pending publication of the final data in the following month.
On an annual basis, core inflation remained at 3.1% in October’s preliminary estimate, according to the institute. By its definition in the institute’s statement, this measure excludes unprocessed food and energy products. It remained at this level as annual headline inflation held steady at 4.9%. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.6% in October from September. The preliminary reading thus combined steady annual headline and core inflation with a rise in consumer prices during the month.
The institute said price declines curbed inflationary pressures, led by a steeper fall in prices for fuel and lubricants for private cars than was recorded in October 2025. Prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages and clothing also rose, but at a slower pace than in the same month of the previous year. These three components showed different movements: a steeper decline in car fuel and lubricants, and slower increases in food and clothing. According to the institute’s statement, these annual comparisons helped ease the impact of factors that pushed prices higher. The reading thus links declines in some prices and slower increases in other categories with the annual inflation rate remaining at its previous level.
In the opposite direction, the institute said prices for tourism packages fell at a slower pace than in October last year. Gas prices also rose faster than the increase recorded a year earlier, while prices for liquid fuels rose compared with a decline in the same month of the previous year. These components highlight how annual comparisons differed from one category to another: a slower decline in tourism packages, a faster increase in gas, and a shift in liquid fuels from decline to increase. These factors came alongside declines in car fuel and lubricants and slower increases in food and clothing. The institute described movements in these categories among the factors accompanying its October estimate of annual inflation.
According to the harmonised consumer price index, the preliminary annual inflation rate was 4.9% in October, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month. The index recorded an estimated monthly increase of 0.5%, compared with a 0.6% rise in the headline consumer price index during the month. The harmonised index’s reading differed from the headline index in its monthly and annual paths: its annual rate fell by one-tenth of a percentage point, while the headline annual rate was unchanged at 4.9%. In September, harmonised annual inflation was 5.0%, up four-tenths of a percentage point from August. September inflation was at its highest level since February 2023, after rising six-tenths of a percentage point from August, according to the institute’s data.
September’s harmonised reading provides context for October’s preliminary rate, which came in at 4.9% after a reading of 5.0% in the previous month. September’s rate had risen four-tenths of a percentage point from August, and the institute described that reading as the highest since February 2023. The institute said the October data it released were a preliminary estimate of the final data, which will be published in the following month. The figures in October’s reading therefore remain estimates until the final release. The institute set the following month as the publication date for those data, without specifying a particular day in the statement cited here.