By Andrea Hargraves 
The annual inflation rate in September was 9.3%, announce This Thursday the National Institute of Statistics (INE), confirming advanced figures on September 30 in the rapid estimate. It is the highest value for this indicator Since 1990 This reflects an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the 8.9% year-on-year inflation recorded in August.
This Thursday’s data confirms all the numbers from two weeks ago threatened Government forecast for 2022. The average variance for the past 12 months in Portugal is now 6%. The government had expected this indicator to be at 7.4%, a target at risk, even if year-on-year inflation stopped rising in the last quarter of the year, as PÚBLICO already made clear.
in suggestion State budget for 2023the government expects inflation go down to 4% Next year.
In the Portuguese case, price variance in energy products has slowed, as PUBLIC highlighted when provisional figures were released, which are now confirmed. Prices are up 22.2% (1.8% lower than in August). However, other categories of goods continue to exert strong pressures on the purchasing power of consumers, whose wages are not keeping pace with rising inflation in products such as food, clothing and footwear, as well as household accessories and equipment, which are the main contributors to the annual change in CPI (CPI).
The most expensive clothes and shoes 23.8%
In monthly terms, the variance in the CPI was 1.2% compared to August, or 1.6%, excluding unprocessed food and energy products, the National Institute of Statistics highlights. This difference can be explained by the downward trend in fuel prices towards the end of summer.
In a month that marks the reopening of schools after the holidays and thousands of families returning to work, the class most contributing to that monthly difference was clothing and footwear, according to the National Institute of Statistics, with a discrepancy of 23.8%. “On the other hand, the category with the largest negative contribution to monthly variance was transportation, with a variance of -1.2%,” he adds.
The evolution of prices for children’s and baby clothing (+44.6%), women’s clothing (+31.7%) and men’s clothing (+22.7%), also reflects seasonal effects associated with the launch of new collections for the fall/winter season, INE admits.
In terms of lower prices, the largest negative contributors were international flights (-20.18%) and organized holidays abroad (-18.04%).
Germans with Expensive Energy 43%
In Germany, the Statistics Authority also released this Thursday final inflation data for September, after confirming the annual rate was 10%. For Germans, this is the highest number since Federal and East German reunification, also 32 years ago.
The agency says stand out “The massive increases in energy prices are the main reason for this high inflation.” “However, we are also seeing an increase in the prices of many other products, especially food,” confirms the head of German statistics, Georg Thiel.
In September, the price of energy products in Germany was 43.9% higher than it was a year ago.
Thiel warns that some of Berlin’s temporary measures to support families are ending. In this case it is the end of the fuel discount period and the single carriage ticket, which expired on August 31.
For three months, the Germans were able to travel on public transport for a low, fixed fare of up to nine euros a month. This single ticket was valid for all local and regional bus and train services. The exception is long-distance trains.
“These temporary measures of the second aid package had the effect of lowering general inflation between June and August,” ensures Thiel.