Italy's consumer price inflation eased slightly more than initially estimated in August, while the trade balance turned to a surplus in July from a deficit in the previous year as imports fell faster than exports, separate reports from the statistical office ISTAT showed on Friday.
The consumer price index climbed 5.4 percent year-over-year in August, slower than the 5.9 percent gain in the previous month.
The latest rate of inflation was revised from the 5.5 percent seen in the flash report published on August 31.
Further, this was the weakest inflation since January 2022, when prices had risen 4.8 percent.
Data showed that the slowdown was mainly driven by the deceleration in the cost of non-regulated energy goods, with the pace of growth easing from 7.0 percent to 5.7 percent.
Similarly, services related recreation increased at a slower pace of 5.8 percent in August versus 6.6 percent rise in July. The annual price growth in unprocessed food products also moderated to 9.2 percent from 10.4 percent.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices moved up 0.3 percent in August, revised down from 0.4 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food, slowed to 4.8 percent from 5.2 percent in the previous month, as estimated.
Inflation, based on the harmonized index of consumer prices, stood at 5.5 percent in August, down from 6.3 percent in the previous month. The monthly outcome in HICP was an increase of 0.2 percent. There was no change in figures compared with the initial estimate.
The trade balance of the country showed a surplus of EUR 6.4 billion in July against a shortfall of EUR 460 million in the corresponding month last year. In June, there was a surplus of EUR 3.4 billion.
Exports declined 7.7 percent annually in July, while imports plummeted by 19.4 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, both exports and imports dropped by 1.8 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively. The reduction in exports on a monthly basis was due to the decline in sales to both areas, the EU and non-EU.
