(Finance) – A October 2023 Istat estimated that thenational consumer price index for the entire community (NIC), gross of tobacco, recorded a decrease of 0.2% on a monthly basis and an increase of 1.7% on an annual basis, from +5.3% in the previous month (the preliminary estimate was +1.8% ). The consistent deceleration of the inflation rateexplained the Institute of Statistics, is mainly due to the strong slowdown on a trend basis in the prices of Energeticboth unregulated (from +7.6% to -17.7%) and regulated (from -27.9% to -31.7%) and, to a lesser extent, those of Food unprocessed (from +7.7% to +4.9%) and processed (from +8.9% to +7.3%).
These effects are only partially offset by the acceleration in the prices of Housing related services (from +3.7% to +4.0%) and dei Transport related services (from +3.8% to +4.0%). L'”underlying inflation“, net of energy and fresh food, it also slows down (from +4.6% to +4.2%), as does that net of just goods energy (from +4.8%, recorded in September, to +4.2%). The growth on an annual basis in the prices of goods stops (no trend change from +6.0%), while that of services remains stable (at +4.1%), bringing the inflationary differential between the services and goods sectors back to largely positive values (+4.1 percentage points, from -1.9 in September).
Prices are slowing down further in trend terms Food goodsfor home and personal care (from +8.1% to +6.1%) and those of high-density products high purchase frequency (from +6.6% to +5.6%).
“The fall in inflation is a mere optical illusion which should not lead one to think that the price emergency is over – stated the president of the Codacons, Carlo Rienzi – On the contrary, the price lists of primary goods and the products most purchased by families continue to grow at a rapid pace, and not even the spending-saving basket launched in October by the Government has brought prices back to acceptable levels”. For Maximilian Donapresident ofNational Consumers Union“the definitive data from Istat officially confirm that the effect on prices of the anti-inflation quarter was nil, as we had widely predicted and announced. Which is equivalent to a fiasco, a failure. A failure attested by the fact that compared to September, the only correct comparison to judge the Government’s initiative, the prices of food products remained the same, with no change (in the provisional data they even rose by 0.1%)”.
“We ask the Government not to lower its guard and to continue along the path of measures to support citizens’ incomes and purchasing capacity”, is the appeal launched by the president of Assoutenti, Fury Truzzi.
The vision from the business world is more optimistic. “A trend that could help revive consumption in the sector, which was falling by 4.4% in the first nine months of the year – underlined the Coldiretti –. This is the first month since the entry into force of the anti-inflation pact which must guarantee compliance with the current legislation regarding the fight against unfair commercial practices referred to in Legislative Decree 198/2021 and in particular that relating to the prohibition of sales below cost and ensure that distortions do not occur in the distribution of value and fair remuneration, especially to the detriment of the contractually weaker phases, positioned upstream of the agri-food chain”.
For Confcommercio “the definitive deflation figure for October (-0.2% on September) constitutes a comforting indication of the good functioning of the production-wholesale-distribution system. Not only has inflation disappeared in eleven months, at least temporarily, but the economic reduction of prices appears widespread and, therefore, potentially solid”.