“Based on the information already gathered, the year-on-year rate of change of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 4.2% in February (3.3% in January). The underlying inflation indicator (total index excluding unprocessed food and energy products) will have registered a variation of 3.2% (2.4% in the previous month)”, indicates the national statistics office. The average variation of the CPI in the last 12 months will have been 1.8%.

The rise in prices was mainly influenced by the energy component. The institute estimates that the year-on-year rate of change in the energy products index stood at 14.9% in February, a figure above the 12.1% recorded in January. In the case of unprocessed food products, this index also accelerated from 3.4% to 3.8%, reveals the INE.

The CPI variation stood at 0.4% in February compared to the previous month, after reaching 0.3% in January and -0.5% in February 2021. With regard to the HICP (Harmonized Price Index in Consumer), the indicator used in the comparison of Portugal with the European Union, the change rose to 4.4% compared to the 3.4% recorded in January.

INE presents the final data for inflation on the 10th, but emphasises that these “results will tend to be close to the definitive ones, given the tests it carried out internally before starting the release of the quick estimates”.