For Alicante areas, one house is built with lime and another with sand. CPI data released by INE this Tuesday show the shopping cart in the state rise in October, surpassing the national average—driven in large part by steady gains in non-alcoholic beverages such as milk and soft drinks. General inflation remains above two tenths higher due to sizable increases in footwear and clothing, entertainment and culture, and personal services like hairdressing.
Prices for food and beverages in the shopping basket stopped rising. They fell from 10.7% to 9.4% in September, a rate below one-tenth of the national average. This subject highlights that food price growth dipped into single digits for the first time since March 2022, when the war in Ukraine intensified inflationary pressures that began after the pandemic lockdowns. That trend helped push up the cost of daily shopping in the state by as much as 16.9 percent year over year last February.
The key difference between this region and the rest of the country is the soft drink sector. While soft drinks rose 10.9% nationally, the state saw annual price growth of 9.7%.
A stall in the state market. David’s Revenge
If one looks closer, the items that showed the most price relief in the last month include sugar, which dropped from a 40% annual increase to about 10% in September; legumes and vegetables also cooled, moving from 12.8% to around 4% versus last year. Conversely, the costs for oils and fats surged, showing increases that brought overall prices for these items about 50% higher than in October of the previous year. The INE breakdown does not offer provincial granularity in all cases, but it does provide the national picture. Olive oil, for instance, registered a price increase of about 73.5%.
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Even though the shopping cart rose at a slower pace, the CPI for the province remained two-tenths above the national average for the second consecutive month, at 3.7%. The national rate stands at 3.5%. Clothing and footwear became more expensive in Alicante, rising by 2.9% year over year, which is 1.6 percentage points higher than the rest of the country.
The increase in electricity, fuel, and oil prices pushed provincial inflation to 3.7 percent overall.
Additionally, costs tied to entertainment and culture showed a higher average uptick—especially those linked to education for children, with preschool and primary education costs rising 6.5% compared to the state average of 2.8%. Personal services related to grooming and hair care increased by about 5.4%. In the same direction, the accommodation sector, including hotels, posted a notable gap with the rest of the country: year-on-year inflation reached 13.7% in the region, versus 11.5% nationwide.
Overall, the latest INE data paint a picture of regional price dynamics that contrast with broader national trends. For households in Alicante, the rhythm of price changes continues to be shaped by the interplay between essential goods, household services, and energy costs, with softer gains in some staples offset by sharper increases in others. This pattern mirrors a broader national narrative where certain categories, like utilities and services, drive inflation more than usual while food costs show episodic easing. Analysts note that, as energy markets stabilize and supply chains adjust, these regional differentials are likely to narrow slowly, though persistent gaps may endure in areas with higher housing and living costs. Attribution: INE data releases.