Coronavirus: Istat, no increase in sanitizing prices

In February, there was a sharp increase in sales of sanitizing products due to the Coronavirus emergency, without however tensions on prices. They explained it to Istat in the press conference on inflation in February, specifying that the surveys arrive until Sunday 23rd (when the first cases had already appeared in the red areas). "There is a sharp increase in the quantities sold - they explain - but there have been no price increases". However, products make up a marginal part of the overall basket and would not have effects on general inflation.

In February the consumer price index (Nic) remained unchanged compared to January and increased by 0.4% on February 2019. Istat notes this on the basis of preliminary estimates. The annual price increase in January was 0.5%. The slight slowdown in inflation is mainly attributable to the dynamics of unregulated energy goods. Inflation acquired for 2020 is zero for the general index and for the underlying component. The HICP index falls by 0.4% on a monthly basis due to the balances that the Nic does not take into account.

The prices of food, home and personal care (the so-called shopping cart) increased by 0.4% in February compared to January and 0.7% compared to February 2019 with a slight acceleration compared to January (when the annual increase had been 0.6%). Istat notes this on the basis of preliminary estimates. High-frequency products in February slowed down on an annual basis from + 1.3% to + 1%.