Spain was the only country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in which energy prices fell in 2022, contributing to inflation ending the year at 5.7%, EFE and Agerpres reported.

In the period from December 2021 to December 2022, energy prices in Spain decreased by 6.9%, while in the OECD they increased by 18.4%, and in the Eurozone by 25.5%, as in the European Union, noted organization on Tuesday, in a statement.

Behind this decline in Spain was, in particular, the application of the so-called Iberian exception, which allows a ceiling to be set on the price of gas used to generate electricity, in exchange for compensation for operators who use this fuel.

However, the Iberian exception does not explain everything, as evidenced by the fact that in Portugal, which also benefits from this mechanism, energy prices increased by 20.8% in 2022.

OECD countries with the highest and lowest inflation, respectively

Among the OECD countries where energy prices rose the least last year were Mexico (3%), New Zealand (4.1%), Costa Rica (4.6%), Greece (4.9%) and Norway (6 .5%).

At the opposite pole, growth reached the level of 45.5% in Latvia, 52.3% in Great Britain and up to 91.6% in Turkey.

Annual OECD inflation stood at 9.4% at the end of December 2022, after a second straight monthly decline following a peak of 10.8% in October. This was the lowest level since April 2022.

In Spain, inflation was 5.7% in December, nine tenths less than in November, due to the drop in energy prices.

The only OECD countries with lower inflation than Spain in the last month of 2022 were Switzerland (2.8%), Japan (4%), South Korea (5%) and Israel (5.3%). That is, not a single country in the European Union, where the average inflation in December was 10.4%, in the euro zone – 9.2%.

One of the main factors of inflation in Spain, as in many other countries, was food prices. In 2022, it grew in Spain by 15.7% (year-on-year growth in November was 15.3%), and in the OECD – by 15.6%.