The annual inflation rate in Italy remained unchanged from the previous month at 1.7% in July of 2025, contrasting with market expectations that it would have eased to 1.5%, according to a preliminary estimate. Consistently, the EU-harmonized inflation rate inched lower to 1.7% from 1.8% in the previous month, tying the lowest rate so far this year and remaining below the ECB's target of 2%, but above expectations of 1.6%. Inflation rose for both unprocessed (5.1% vs 4.2% in June) and processed (3.1% vs 2.7%) food, in addition to miscellaneous services (2.2% vs 1.6%) and transportation services (3.4% vs 2.9%). In turn, prices slowed for regulated energy (16.7% vs 22.6%) and recreational and cultural services (2.6% vs 3.2%). The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile and often exogenous fresh food and energy subindices, remained unchanged at 2%. From the previous month, the Italian CPI rose by 0.4%.