Data published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that producer prices fell by 1% per annum in March after an increase of 8% per annum in February (revised from +7.8% per annum). This was the first price drop since December 2020. Economists had expected prices to rise by 2.8% per annum.
INE said that all industries had a negative impact on the annual producer price index. Energy prices fell by 15.9% per annum on the background of lower prices for the production, transmission and distribution of electric energy. Meanwhile, the price growth for intermediate goods slowed by 3.1%, to 3.5% per annum, mainly due to falling prices for the production of basic chemical products. Prices for short-term consumer goods increased by 13.2% per annum, which is 2.3% lower than in February. This change was mainly due to the fall in prices for the production of vegetable and animal oils and fats.
The report also showed that excluding energy, producer prices rose by 7.3% per annum after an increase of 9.5% per annum in February.