The Consumer Price Index(CPI) cut its year-on-year rate by one tenth of a percentage point in December, to 2.9%, driven mainly by the drop in fuel prices, according to advanced data published Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
With this decline in the last month of the year, inflation has been moderating for two consecutive months, after reaching its highest level in the last 16 months in October, when it stood at 3.1%.
The INE explains that the evolution of the CPI is due, above all, to the behavior of fuels and lubricants for personal vehicles, whose prices have decreased compared to the increase registered in December 2024. They have also contributed, although in a more moderate way, the prices of leisure and culture, which rise, but less than in the same month of the previous year.
On the other hand, food and non-alcoholic beverages, whose prices increased more than in December of last year, partially offsetting the effect of energy on headline inflation, have put upward pressure on inflation.
Average inflation in 2025 closes at 2.7%.
In 2025 as a whole, general inflation closed with an average rate of 2.7%, one tenth below that recorded in 2024. The Ministry of Economy emphasized that this figure “allows families to continue recovering purchasing power“, in a context of progressive normalization of prices.
Core inflation remains at 2.6%.
The CPI advance also includes an estimate of core inflation -which excludes unprocessed food and energy products-, which in December remained stable at 2.6%, the same rate as in November.
If confirmed, core inflation would be at its highest level since December 2024, when it also reached 2.6%. However, on average for the year, core inflation moderated to 2.3%, compared to 2.9% in 2024, in line with the target of the European Central Bank (ECB), according to the department headed by Carlos Cuerpo.
Prices rise 0.3% in monthly rate
In monthly terms, the CPI increased by 0.3% in December with respect to November, one tenth of a percentage point more than the increase recorded the previous month.
For its part, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) cut its year-on-year rate by two tenths, to 3%, with a monthly variation also of 0.3%. Underlying HICP inflation stood at 2.8% in the last month of the year, according to Statistics estimates.
The INE will publish the final CPI data for December on January 15, when the final evolution of inflation at the end of the year will be confirmed.
