The latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed on Friday that producer prices fell by 7.5% in January, recording the largest decline in the entire history of observations. In December, producer prices increased by 2.9%. Economists had expected prices to rise by 1.9% in January. Producer prices decreased by 9.9% in the domestic market, but increased by 0.6% in the foreign market.
In annual terms, producer price growth slowed to 11.1% from 31.7% in December, while consensus estimates suggested an increase of 32.3% per annum. Prices increased by 11.6% in the domestic market and by 8.4% in the foreign market.
ISTAT also stated that over the three-month period (through January), producer prices increased by 0.4% compared to the previous three months, while prices for the domestic and foreign markets increased by 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
In January, construction producer prices of Residential buildings and non-residential buildings increased by 0.4% on monthly basis and by 5.3% on annual basis. Construction producer prices of roads and railways increased by 0.4% relative to December and by 6.0% on an annual basis.