Toledo (EFE).- Year-on-year inflation moderated in March in Castilla-La Mancha and stood at 3.4%, with which it experienced the largest decrease in the country, 3.5%, compared to the month of February, although food maintains a rise of 17.7% compared to March 2022.
According to data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the annual rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreased in March compared to February in all the autonomous communities, especially in Castilla-La Mancha.
Inflation in Spain slows to 3.3%
In the country as a whole, inflation eased to 3.3% year-on-year in March, 2.7 points below the February rate, due to the drop in electricity and fuel prices, while food registered a rise of 16.5%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages continued to rise in March with that rate of 16.5%, one tenth less than the previous month when they registered a record year-on-year increase.
Faced with this, the prices of electricity (51.8%) and those of diesel (15.3%) and gasoline (12.6%) fell sharply, which rose sharply last year after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Passenger transport prices have also moderated, influenced by the various discounts and measures adopted to deal with the impact of energy increases.
Thus, the INE has confirmed that this 3.3% of the general CPI index represents the lowest rate since August 2021; while the core – without counting energy products or unprocessed food – only decreased one tenth, to 7.5%.
The most inflationary group in CLM, food
In Castilla-La Mancha, in addition to the 17.7% rise in food prices in March compared to the same month last year, the prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by 8.9%; clothing and footwear 3.7%; household items rose 7.3%; communications 2.5%; leisure and culture 3.8%; education 2.3% and hotels, cafes and restaurants raised prices and 8.7%.
In the interannual rate, the price of housing fell by 18.7% and transport, by 4.5%.
Compared to the previous month, in March the prices of the following groups increased: food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.69%); alcoholic beverages and tobacco (0.5%); clothing and footwear (2.2%); kitchenware (0.4%); medicine (0.2%); leisure and culture (0.6%); and hotels, cafes and restaurants (1%).
The prices of housing (2.3%), transport (0.2%) and communications (0.1%) decreased and remained stable in the education group.
Prices rise in the five provinces
The most inflationary Castilian-La Mancha provinces in the interannual rate are Guadalajara and Toledo, which reached 4% and 3.7% in the month of March, while Ciudad Real and Cuenca rose 3.3% in both cases and Albacete 3%. .
Compared to the previous month, prices rose 0.4% in all provinces except Guadalajara, which rose 0.3%.
CLM leads the price drop compared to February
By communities, the annual rate of the CPI decreased in March compared to February in all of them, with the greatest decreases in Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón and Castilla y León, with decreases of 3.5, 3.2 and 3.1 points, respectively.
For their part, the smallest decreases occurred in the Canary Islands, with a decrease of 2.2 points, and in the Principality of Asturias, Catalonia and the Basque Country, with reductions of 2.5 points in each one. EFE