ROME, 31st October, 2026 (WAM) -- Italy's annual inflation rate climbed even further Iin October, driven by soaring energy prices linked to the war in the Miidle East, hitting 5.4%, the highest level since August 2023, according to a preliminary estimate for October released by Istat.
The annual inflation rate was 4.2% in September.
According to Italian News Agency ANSA, the national statistics agency said energy prices had accelerated, going from +22.6% to +31.4%.
"The acceleration of inflation was mainly due to the dynamics of prices of non-regulated energy products (from +22.5% to +29.4%) and of regulated energy products (from +25.8% to +59.5%), of unprocessed food (from +5.5% to +7.5%), of services related to transport (from +1.6% to +3.1%) and of processed food including alcohol (from -0.6% to -0.2%)," Istat said.
The agency said its consumer price index was up 0.9% in month-on-month terms.