Spain inflation: Iran war pushes prices up by 3.3% in March

Zoom

Prices are at their highest level since June 2024 after the biggest rise in almost four years

José A. González

Friday, 27 March 2026, 14:04

The CPI in Spain rose to 3.3% in March, according to data from the national institute of statistics (Ine). This figure exceeds inflation in March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered food and energy prices to rise.

The figure is lower than the forecast of the Funcas platform (3.6%), but higher than that of BBVA research analysts (2.9%).

Meanwhile, core inflation , which excludes energy and processed food prices, remained in line with the February figure (2.7%).

The Ministry of Economy blames this rise on the energy shock resulting from the conflict in the Middle East, which has raised the general indicator by one percentage point compared both with February's data and March 2025.

"The war has led us to modify our inflation forecasts," Funcas experts announced a few weeks ago, predicting that the CPI could rise to 4% in the coming months if the conflict in the Persian Gulf does not end. This Thursday, the OECD estimated the annual rate for Spain at 3%.

The rise in inflation has direct impact on the economy: the increase in prices reduces households' spending capacity by diverting resources that would normally be used for consumption, which ends up weighing on growth.

Related story