Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 14 Feb. (Europa Press) –
The president of the Official Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santiago Sesé, has emphasised this Friday that the Canary Islands enhance their competitiveness in relation to the national territory through the “progressive moderation” of price rises, following the initial conclusions from the January Consumer Price Index (CPI), published by the National Statistics Institute.
Sesé remarked in a statement that “the forecasts” from their research department are being validated, showing a downward trajectory for this indicator in the islands compared to the most recent inflationary periods. “The rate of general prices on an annual basis is moderating to 2.1%, eight tenths below the national variation rate which is increasing to 2.9%,” he stated.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce in Santa Cruz pointed out that the core inflation, which excludes energy and food product prices, stands below 2% “for the first time since December 2021,” indicating a “tendency towards the stabilisation of demand and consumption.”
The smallest price rise over the year
The Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz highlights that the Canary Islands continues to establish itself as the least inflationary region in Spain, with an annual variation of 2.1%.
Consequently, the most significant year-on-year price decrease on the islands is seen in ‘Clothing and Footwear’ (-4.5%), as January recorded a drop of 13.2%, two points higher than the national average (-11.2%), coinciding with the winter sales period.
Prices for household items and maintenance fell by 0.3%, while in the mainland they increased by 0.6%.
Conversely, the most notable increases compared to December 2024 are found in ‘communications’ (3%), with the same figures at both regional and national levels, and in ‘housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ (2.8%).
In the case of the latter, Santiago Sesé points out, “prices in the Canary Islands are rising one point less than in the rest of the country in the first month, but are up 6.6% compared to the previous year.”
Moreover, there is an ongoing debate regarding free transport and its national approval.
Additionally, in the past year, food prices in the Canary Islands rose by 1.4% compared to a national rise of 1.8%. By category, the product that experienced the highest increase in the islands is “eggs” (2.4%), while “sheep meat” witnessed the greatest decrease (-6.2%). Furthermore, the Special Services Group reported a 3% increase in the islands and 3.4% nationwide.
The sectors of ‘alcoholic and tobacco products’ (4.3%), ‘restaurants and hotels’ (3.4%), and ‘other goods and services’ (3.2%) also reflect increases when compared to January 2024.
The president of the Chamber has also highlighted that fuel prices in the archipelago have an annual downward trend of 2.2%, with a monthly average increase of 1.1%. Conversely, nationally, they rose by 1.2% and 3.4% respectively.
Price groups such as ‘education’, which remain stable, or ‘health’, show variations that do not exceed 1%. “These sectors are the most stable, as the former holds the same index as in December 2024, while the latter has increased by 0.2%.
