In May, inflation in the Canary Islands saw an uptick, recording a 3.4% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on a year-on-year basis, primarily driven by significant price hikes in food and non-alcoholic beverages, which surged by 5.3%, according to the latest figures released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
This rise in May marked a rebound in the annual inflation rate in the region, following a decline the previous month. On a monthly basis, the inflation in the Canary Islands edged up by 0.1%, the lowest monthly increase recorded across the country, bringing the cumulative increase for the year to 1.7%.
The sectors witnessing the most substantial annual price increases included restaurants and hotels, where costs rose by 5.5% compared to May of the previous year (a slight decrease of 0.1 points from the previous month’s year-on-year rate); food and non-alcoholic beverages, up by 5.3% (down by 0.5 points); housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, which increased by 4.9% (up by 1.1 points); and alcoholic beverages and tobacco, rising by 3.7% (a decrease of 0.3 points).
Conversely, the sectors where prices saw the most significant annual declines were clothing and footwear, which fell by 1.1% (no change from the rate of the previous month), and communications, which decreased by 0.2% (a slight drop of 0.1 points from the previous month).
Nationally, the CPI increased by 0.3% in May from the previous month, and the year-on-year rate rose by 0.3 points to 3.6%. By the end of May, the regions with the highest CPI rates were Galicia at 4.0%, the Basque Country at 3.9%, and the Balearic Islands at 3.8%. The regions with the lowest rates included Melilla at 2.9%, Ceuta at 3.4%, and the Canary Islands at 3.4%, highlighting that the archipelago recorded the lowest annual CPI rate in the country.
