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Bloomberg
Spanish inflation slowed for a fifth straight month in December, decelerating by nearly half since mid-year as energy costs continue to decline in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.
Consumer prices rose 5.6% from a year earlier, down from a 6.7% advance in November, the statistics institute said. That’s a better reading than the 5.8% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The slowdown in the headline number was driven by continued declines in electricity and fuel costs. Inflation has eased more than 5 percentage points since hitting a record 10.7% in July, but underlying price increases, a gauge that removes volatile power and food costs, accelerated in December, hitting 6.9%.
A separate release, showed Portuguese inflation at 9.8%, down from 10.2% in November.
Iberia kicks off a raft of readings across the euro area, with Germany and Italy also predicted to see decelerations.