ROME, ITALY / RankWire.AI / – Italy’s yearly consumer inflation slowed to 2.9% in July 2026, down from 3.0% in June. Final national figures released on Aug. 12 showed consumer prices increased by 0.3% from June. Initially, at the end of July, preliminary data indicated an annual rate of 2.8%. The official reading was therefore 0.1 percentage point higher than the flash estimate. July marked the second consecutive month of falling inflation after reaching 3.2% in May.
Istat attributed the slowdown to weaker growth in non-regulated energy prices, unprocessed food, and miscellaneous services. Non-regulated energy inflation decreased to 11.4% from 13.3%. Unprocessed food inflation eased to 3.6% from 4.4%. Inflation for miscellaneous services fell to 1.8% from 2.5%. These drops balanced out higher inflation in regulated energy and several service sectors.
Regulated energy costs climbed 14.8% year-over-year, up from 9.2% in June. Transport-related services grew by 1.6%, compared to 1.1%. Recreation, repair, and personal care services increased by 3.0%, from 2.7%. Goods inflation slowed slightly to 3.2% from 3.3%, while services inflation edged up to 2.7% from 2.6%. Core inflation, excluding energy and unprocessed food, remained steady at 1.6% for a second month.
Energy and Food Prices Drive July Inflation Trends
Monthly changes showed a similar pattern. Regulated energy prices rose 6.5% from June. Transport services increased by 1.4%. Recreation, repair, and personal care services added 0.6%. Non-regulated energy costs grew by 0.5%. Processed food, including alcohol and housing-related services, each increased by 0.3%. Unprocessed food prices dropped 1.3% from June. Overall, this caused the national index to rise by 0.3% compared to June.
Looking at broader spending categories, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels increased by 7.2% from July 2025. Transport prices grew by 4.3%. Restaurant and accommodation services rose by 3.4%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.4%. Clothing and footwear went up by 0.9%. The index excluding energy rose 1.8% year-over-year, down slightly from 1.9% in June. The grocery and unprocessed food group increased by 1.0%, easing from 1.3% the previous month.
Euro Area Inflation Matches Italy’s Harmonised Measure at 2.9%
Italy’s harmonised consumer price index increased by 2.9% year-over-year in July, a slight decrease from 3.0% in June. The harmonised measure declined by 1.0% from June due to summer sales, which impact this index but not the national one. The final figure aligned with the early estimate. Eurostat reported euro area inflation at 2.9% in its July flash estimate, up from 2.8% in June. Italy’s harmonised rate matched the preliminary estimate for the entire euro zone.
In July, the final national index reached 103.4, using 2025 as the base year at 100. The data combined slower annual increases in some categories with faster rises in others. Non-regulated energy, unprocessed food, and miscellaneous services slowed down. Meanwhile, regulated energy and transport services picked up. Both the national and harmonised measures recorded 2.9% annual inflation. Their monthly figures differed because seasonal sales are included in the harmonised index but not in the national measure.