Spain's inflation holds at 4.9% in October, highest since February 2023

Headline rate holds at 4.9%

Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) confirmed on Friday, 13 November, that consumer prices rose 4.9% year on year in October, unchanged from September and matching the provisional figure published at the end of the month. It is the highest rate since February 2023, when inflation reached 6%. Inflation has now stayed above 4% for three consecutive months, and the 4.9% level has held for two.

Prices rose 0.6% month on month in October, three tenths more than in September, marking nine consecutive monthly increases. The clothing and footwear group drove the monthly rise with a 7.9% jump as the autumn-winter season began, while food climbed 1.2% on fruit and nuts and, to a lesser extent, on vegetables, pulses, potatoes, fish and seafood.

Energy and tourism push in opposite directions

Fuel prices pulled the index down. Transport inflation slowed to 10.3%, two tenths less than in September, as gasoline and diesel prices fell compared with a year earlier. Food and non-alcoholic beverages eased to 2.4%, three tenths lower, while clothing and footwear slowed to 1.8%.

Other groups pushed in the opposite direction. Housing inflation rose four tenths to 7.6% because of gas, and recreation, sport and culture rose five tenths to 4.1% because tourist package prices fell by less than in October 2025. Services inflation reached 4.1% in October, according to El Confidencial, which notes it had hovered near 3% before the Middle East crisis.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages2.4%

Clothing and footwear1.8%

Transport10.3%

Housing7.6%

Recreation, sport and culture4.1%

Food and non-alcoholic beverages

2.4 %

Clothing and footwear

1.8 %

Transport

10.3 %

Housing

7.6 %

Recreation, sport and culture

4.1 %

Data from the article text

Gas added further pressure. Mibgas put the average Spanish gas price at 85.3 euros per MWh in October, in line with rises in the European TTF benchmark, which peaked above 100 euros late in the month as cold weather began and supply difficulties persisted.

Fuel discount extended into December

The 20 cent per litre discount on gasoline and diesel stayed in place in October. Under Royal Decree-Law 25/2026 it was due to shrink to 13 cents, but September year-on-year increases of 27.5% for gasoline and 34% for diesel exceeded the 15% threshold and triggered a safeguard clause that froze it, El Confidencial reports. El País says the government is extending the 20 cent cut into December because both fuels remain above that threshold.

The government also cut the hydrocarbon excise tax on LPG butane and propane used outside fuel applications to zero euros per tonne. No new VAT or electricity tax cuts were triggered, since electricity tax inflation stood at 11.1%, below the 15% level required. Limits on increases in the regulated gas tariff remain in force until the end of the year.

Core inflation and the rent index

Core inflation, which excludes unprocessed food and energy, held at 3.1% for a second month and sits 1.8 points below the headline rate. It is the highest core reading since March 2024, El Mundo and El Confidencial report, though the latter says the rise is not comparable with the 2022 crisis.

INE also published the reference index that caps annual rent increases. It rose to 2.57% year on year in October from 2.54% in September, the highest since the index was first published in November 2024, and has stayed above 2% for 17 consecutive months. The index applies to leases signed since the Housing Law took effect on 25 May 2023, and it is the lowest of three measures: headline CPI, core inflation and an adjusted average growth rate.

September 20262.54%

October 20262.57%

September 2026

2.54 %

October 2026

2.57 %

Data from the article text

Economists point to services

Funcas senior economist María Jesús Fernández, quoted by El País, said services inflation is the main concern.

“Services inflation has not managed to fall below 3.9% since spring.”

Fernández linked the figure to strong domestic consumption, driven by tourism and population growth, and to companies struggling to expand supply where workers are scarce. Manuel Hidalgo, an economist at Universidad Pablo de Olavide, agreed that hospitality and retail sustain the trend. He noted that fewer than 10 items in the shopping basket explain 90% of the inflation gap with Europe, including hotels and car rental.