Spanish inflation picked up speed in July, rising to a record high point of 5.3 percent on a 12-month comparison, final figures from the national statistics institute INE showed on Wednesday.
It is the highest level since Spain began calculating inflation by the European Union harmonised method in January 1997.
In June, 12-month inflation was 5.1 percent and in May it was 4.7 percent, the statistics office said in a statement.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices declined 0.5 percent, compared to a rise of 0.6 percent in June, mostly due to the start of the summer sales season which lowered prices for clothing and shoes.
The drop in clothing and shoe prices however were offset by sharp rises in transport and housing costs as well as in the prices of basic food items.
The rise in inflation comes as the Spanish economy, the euro zone’s fourth largest, is rapidly slowing down due to the abrupt end of a decade-long property boom.
The government predicts Spain’s gross domestic product will expand by 1.6 percent this year, and by just 1.0 percent in 2009, after surging ahead 3.8 percent last year.
Economy Minister Pedro Solbes recently predicted that Spanish inflation would begin to level off in September to end the year at 4.0 percent or less “if oil prices stabilise”.
