According to the flash estimate issued by the INE, the annual inflation of the CPI in January 2026 was 2.4%.
This indicator provides an advance in the CPI which, if confirmed, would mean that the annual rate would fall by five tenths, since in December this variation stood at 2.9%.
This change is mainly due to electricity prices, which are rising, but to a lesser extent than in January 2025; and to fuel and lubricant for personal vehicles, whose prices are decreasing, compared with the increase in the same month of the previous year.
The estimated annual variation rate of core inflation (general index without unprocessed food or energy products) remained unchanged at 2.6%.
Overall and core index. Percentage
1 The latest data refers to the flash estimate.
According to the advanced estimate of the CPI, consumer prices registered a -0.4% variation in January, as compared with December.
General index. Percentage
1 The latest data refers to the flash estimate.
In January, the estimated annual rate of change of the HICP fell by five tenths to 2.5%.
The annual rate of core inflation in the HICP stood at 2.8%.
In turn, the estimated monthly variation rate of the HICP was -0.7%.
The data released today is a preview of the final data that will be published next month. All the results of this operation are available at INEbase.
Main features of the IPC Base 2025
With the publication of today's flash estimate of the CPI, INE implements the new 2025 base. The most notable new features of this database are the adaptation to a new product classification, the revised composition of the shopping basket, and the updating of the weighting structure. In addition, certain methodological innovations are incorporated to improve the accuracy of the indicator.
The base change is a process with the objective of renewing the CPI by adapting it to changes in household consumption patterns and incorporating methodological improvements.
This renewal takes place every five years. However, on this occasion its entry into force is brought forward by one year due to the implementation of the new international consumer classification, ECOICOP Vers.2, in all European Union countries, as required by the European Commission's Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/3159.
According to European regulations, ECOICOP Vers.2 should start to be used in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) with the publication of the index for January 2026. This change in classification directly affects the CPI, as the design of the HICP is such that it is calculated from data of the CPI. It is therefore imperative that the change of classification is also made to the Spanish CPI.
The replacement of the classification in force until now (ECOICOP) for ECOICOP Vers.2 entails a change in the general structure that fundamentally affects the way in which the CPI data are disseminated. The most striking change can be seen in the large groups, as these are the most commonly used aggregations on a monthly basis. As of January 2026 the CPI will go from 12 to 13 major groups, with changes implemented into the content of four of these. This directly affects all other hierarchical aggregations (subgroups, classes and subclasses).
This change also entails the disaggregation of some of these groupings, with the emergence of new subclasses that did not exist until now, and the disappearance of others, which are added together to form new ones.
The result of this update is the number of subclasses (aggregations of good and services at the highest level of detail), which was 199 in base 2021 and moves to 196 in the new base.
The changeover to the new ECOICOP Vers.2 implies that some disaggregations for which indices were being calculated no longer exist, which will therefore no longer be continued. In other cases, there are disaggregations that did not exist in the previous classification and are now being calculated. For the others, the necessary links have been made so that the complete historical series are available, without modifying the rates of change already published at the time.
As in all base changes, one of the key operations is the revision of the content of the shopping basket (the goods and services representative of household consumption). On this occasion, this operation is more relevant than in previous changes, since as a result of the introduction of the new product classification, new products must be introduced in those aggregations that did not exist in the previous classification, as well as eliminating those that are no longer relevant.
Thus, for example, products such as avocados or blueberries are added in food, tea-based soft drinks or beer with lemon in beverages, or X-rays in medical services. Among the items that are no longer in the shopping basket are tie or handkerchiefs.
Finally, the shopping basket will increase from 462 products in base 2021 to 487 in base 2025.
The CPI is characterised by its dynamism and ability to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour through the analysis of expenditure evolution. To this end, a detailed study of market changes is conducted each year, which is reflected in a renewed weighting structure that represents the relative importance of the components in the CPI basket in terms of household consumption expenditure.
The weighting is updated on the basis of information from the National Accounts, supplemented with expenditure data from the Household Budget Survey (HBS), as well as from exogenous sources available in the different sectors of the economy.
The following table shows the weighting structure of the 2025 base, which will be in force in 2026:
In terms of methodological changes, the CPI base 2025 incorporates an improvement to the price collection and recording process. Until now, if any relevant change in product characteristics was detected in the price collection, the adjustment was incorporated into the CPI calculation one month after it had occurred.
Under the new procedure, and thanks to the widespread use of electronic price collection devices nowadays, these adjustments are incorporated in the same month in which the change occurs. This is a clear improvement in the accuracy of price monitoring.
Finally, as part of adapting the CPI to market changes and capturing price movements more precisely, the INE continues to work on the development of automated information collection methods, by taking advantage of company databases (scanner data), automated Internet collection (web scraping), and the use of computerized means for in-store price collection. These methods will be continually incorporated into CPI calculation during the new base.
For more information, you can consult the document Main methodological novelties of the Consumer Price Index Base 2025 at the following link:
https://www.ine.es/metodologia/t25/principales_caracteristicas_base_2025.pdf
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a short-term indicator that measures the evolution of the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households resident in Spain.
On the other hand, the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is an indicator whose objective is to provide a common inflation measure that allows international comparisons.
For more information you can access the methodology and the standardised methodology report (CPI y HICP).
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.
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