Inflation in Catalonia edges up to 3.2% in June, matching Spain's rate

Inflation in Catalonia – as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – rose by 0.1 percentage points in June to 3.2% year-on-year, according to data released by Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) on Wednesday.

Catalonia's annual inflation rate matched the Spanish average, which held steady at 3.2% for the third consecutive month.

Core inflation, which excludes more volatile items, fell to 2.9% across Spain from 3% in May. In Catalonia, it remained unchanged from the previous month at 2.9%.

The INE said higher electricity prices, and to a lesser extent gas prices, put upward pressure on inflation after VAT on electricity returned to 21% from 10%.

Lower fuel prices partly offset the increase.

On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices rose 0.8% in Catalonia in June, compared with a 0.2% increase in May. Across Spain, prices increased 0.6% in June, following a 0.1% rise the previous month.

Electricity and fuel

Electricity and fuel prices have been closely watched since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East. In June, the housing-related CPI category, which includes water, electricity, gas and other fuels, accelerated to 4.0% year-on-year, from 1.0% in May.

Energy products as a whole rose 5.8% year-on-year, compared with 3.9% the previous month. Motor fuels increased by 5.7%, well below the 9.6% recorded in May.

The changes follow the withdrawal in early June of fiscal measures introduced by the Spanish government to cushion the impact of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Tourism

With the start of the summer tourism season, prices for restaurants and accommodation services also accelerated, rising 5.4% year-on-year compared with 5% in May.

Package holidays increased by 0.2% annually and by 7.9% month on month in both Catalonia and Spain.

Food inflation eases

Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages slowed to 2.2% in Catalonia in June, down from 2.4% in May.

That marks the lowest level since the beginning of 2025, an 18-month low.

Autonomous communities

Madrid continued to record the highest annual inflation rate of Spain's autonomous communities in June at 3.8%, followed by Cantabria at 3.5% and the Balearic Islands at 3.4%.

At the other end of the scale were Extremadura (2.4%), Ceuta (2.6%) and Navarre (2.7%).