Italy’s annual inflation rate rose to 1.5% in February 2026 from 1.0% in January, slightly below the preliminary estimate of 1.6%. This was the highest rate since late September and was driven primarily by a marked acceleration in services inflation, which climbed to 3.6% from 2.5% in January. The strongest contributions came from transport-related services (2.9% vs 0.7% in January) and recreational, cultural, and personal care services (4.9% vs 3.0%).
By contrast, energy prices continued to decline sharply, with regulated energy prices down 11.6% year-on-year and unregulated energy prices falling 6.2%. Goods prices remained marginally negative, unchanged at -0.2% compared with January.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.7%, revised slightly down from the initial estimate of 0.8% but still higher than the 0.4% increase recorded in January. The monthly gain was supported by higher prices for tobacco, services, transport, and unprocessed food.
Core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food, increased to 2.4%, while inflation excluding only energy rose to 2.5%. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) advanced 1.5% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month.
