Food prices rose at an accelerating rate in February in Italy

Analysts’ expectations included a February figure of 8.8 percent. Based on preliminary data from Istat, monthly inflation rose to 0.3 percent in February after 0.1 percent in January.

Istat noted that the slowdown in annual inflation was primarily caused by lower energy prices. According to Istat data, the decrease in annual price growth is largely due to the effect of regulated energy prices, which showed a 16.7 percent decrease in the previous month, compared to 12 percent in January. The annual increase in unregulated energy prices decreased to 40.8 percent in February after 59.3 percent in January. At the same time, food prices rose at an accelerating rate in February.