Feb 13 (Reuters) – Spain’s European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation rate fell to 2.4% in January, down from 3.0% in the period through December, final data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Friday.

The INE’s final data was slightly below the 2.5% forecast in both the flash reading released two weeks ago and the average estimate from analysts polled by Reuters.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, stood at 2.6% in the 12 months through January, unchanged from the period through December, the INE said.

Spanish national consumer prices also rose 2.3% in the 12 months through January, down from a 2.9% increase in the period through December, and slightly below the 2.4% rate initially measured by the INE two weeks ago.

It was the largest year-on-year drop in inflation since March 2025 and was mainly due to energy costs, Spain’s Economy Ministry said in a statement.

Households’ purchasing power improved by 1.5% during 2025 as wage increases outpaced inflation, it added.

(Reporting by Marta Serafinko and Paolo Laudani in Gdansk, editing by Emma Pinedo and Charlie Devereux)