By Andrea Hargraves 
Price pressure on the economy continues unabated. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September rose 0.4 percentage points year on year and reached its highest level since October 1992. Portugal’s inflation rate is said to have reached 9.3% in September, according to The Quick estimate Released on Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In August, the value recorded was 8.97%.
In contrast to the series, i.e. compared to the previous month, the CPI rose by 1.2%. Thus, the average change in the past 12 months is estimated at 6% (versus 5.3% in August). Excluding changes in energy and fresh produce prices, so-called core inflation accelerated from 6.5% in August to 6.9% in September, “the highest level since February 1994,” the National Institute of Statistics told.
Looking at the national figures calculated by the National Institute of Statistics, the month of September led to a significant rise in inflation, and in the details presented today, it seems clear that this cannot be attributed solely to energy costs, which are still burdensome and have been one of their drivers. High prices since before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other factors also increase their contribution to this growth, such as food.
In energy products, inflation eased, falling 1.8 percentage points in September to 22.2%. On the other hand, unprocessed (fresh) food products continued to rise – and significantly: from 15.4% in August, they jumped to 16.9% in September, the highest rate in 32 years, since July 1990.
The National Statistics Institute concludes that the Portuguese Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which makes it possible to compare with European partners, registered an annual change of 9.8%. This represents an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to August.
The Eurozone HICP is at 10%, according to Eurostat this morning, in First quick estimate Until September. This is also a significant acceleration compared to 9.1% in August. The value of the Portuguese HICP is slightly below average, ranking 11th among this group.
Energy will post the largest year-on-year jump (40.8% compared to 38.6% in August), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (11.8% vs. 10.6% in August), industrial goods (5.6%, vs. 5.1% in August) and services (4.3 %, versus 3.8% in August)”, says Eurostat
Final national data will be released by the National Institute of Statistics on October 13. The final harmonized index data for the Eurozone will be released on October 19.