Inflation skyrockets to 9.8% due to soaring energy costs, highest level since 1985

Inflation skyrocketed in Spain to 9.8% in March due to the soaring energy costs, according to a flash estimate published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE) on Wednesday.

Price differences in February compared to the year before was 7.6%.

If the figure is confirmed on April 13, it will be the highest level since May 1985, 37 years ago.

Electricity prices, fuel, food and drinks registered significant increases compared to March 2021.

Coinciding with the beginning of the Ukraine war, prices have gone up by 3% in March compared to February. 

As for the core inflation, which excludes seasonal inflationary factors such as non-processed food and energy costs, it stood at 3.4% in March compared to 12 months before. If the figure is consolidated, it would be the highest since September 2008. 

The measures in place by the Spanish government "will allow the executive to flatten the curve" of electricity prices, before stabilizing "the cost of life," Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez said in Congress.

"We need radical measures, such as intervening in the energy markets, limiting prices, limiting corporate benefits, and nationalizing big businesses," far-left CUP MP, Albert Botran, said.

Same trend in Catalonia

The figure for March in Catalonia will be known in two weeks, but in February it stood at 7.4%, just 0.2 points less than the Spanish average and 1.5 points higher than in January.

This was the highest difference between two months since authorities started recording CPI metrics in 2002, but this record may also be surpassed in March.