Portugal experienced an uptick in consumer price inflation at the close of the year, reaching its highest point in five months, according to a preliminary report released by Statistics Portugal on Monday. In a separate announcement, official data indicated a decrease in industrial production for the first time in three months as of November.
Consumer price inflation rose to 3.0% in December, up from 2.5% in November. This marked the highest inflation rate since May, when prices had increased by 3.1%. Excluding energy and unprocessed food products, core inflation also saw a rise, climbing to 2.8% in December from 2.6% the previous month.
On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices increased slightly by 0.1% in December, reversing the 0.2% decline seen in the prior month. EU-harmonized inflation accelerated to 3.1% from 2.7% in November. The agency reported that the average variation over the past twelve months is estimated at 2.4%.
Detailed statistics are scheduled for release by the statistical office on January 13.
In terms of industrial production, there was a 2.1% annual decrease in November, contrasting with the 4.7% growth recorded in October. Notably, energy output witnessed a significant drop of 10.9% compared to the previous year, while the production of capital goods decreased by 5.1%. Conversely, intermediate goods production saw an increase of 1.5%.
When excluding the energy sector, industrial output fell by 0.8%, although the manufacturing industries achieved a modest expansion of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, retail sales in Portugal increased by 5.8% annually in November, building on a 5.7% rise in the previous month. Sales of both food and non-food products experienced notable growth, with increases of 6.5% and 5.3%, respectively.
