Spanish May industrial prices rise 43.6% on year, down from 44.5% in April

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish industrial production prices rose by 43.6% in the 12 months to May, down slightly from a revised 44.5% for the year to April, reflecting a slowdown in energy price inflation, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Monday.

But energy prices were still up by a massive 113% in the 12 months to May, compared to an increase of 119% in the year to April, INE said.

Excluding energy prices, annual industrial price inflation stood at 15.3% in May, down slightly from 15.6% a month earlier, INE said. Overal industrial prices rose 0.9% in May, the data showed.

INE revised down its year-on-year figure for April to 44.5% from a previous 45.0%.

Companies tend to pass on industrial price rises to customers, fuelling inflation, which in Spain as in many other countries is running at its fastest pace in three decades.

The Bank of Spain recently lowered its inflation forecast for 2022 to 7.2%, which would still be the highest since 1986, from a previous 7.5%.

(Reporting by Marta Serafinko, editing by Inti Landauro and Gareth Jones)