Inflation growth slows down in April, at 8.4% in Spain

The inflation growth slowed down in April to 8.4% year-to-year in Spain, according to a flash estimate published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE) on Thursday.

Rising costs of energy continue to boost the indicator, known as the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), but the figure is below the peak of 9.8% reached in March. Last month also saw record-high figures for inflation in Catalonia, at 9.5%.

The drop in CPI is mainly due to the slight fall in electricity and gas prices, as part of measures implemented by the government to ease the cost of living crisis, including offering a 20 cent per litre discount on the price of fuel, a measure that will be in place at least until June 30. 

Price increases in energy and fuel have skyrocketed ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, leading to various protests in March from truck drivers, taxi drivers, and general citizens on separate occasions, 

Despite this, food and alcohol prices are on the rise. 

On the other hand, the annual rate of change in underlying inflation, which does not take into account unprocessed foods or energy products, rises one point to 4.4%, which would be the highest level since December 1995.

For more on the cost of living crisis, have a listen to the episode of our podcast, Filling the Sink, published in early April on the topic.