ROME, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Industrial producer prices in Italy leapt by 40.1 percent in August compared to a year ago, fueled by the dramatic increase in energy prices caused by the Ukraine crisis, Italy's official data showed Thursday.
Costs for production in Italy's domestic market grew by an even larger degree in August -- 50.5 percent above levels a year earlier, according to the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT).
The year-on-year increase in August was higher than the 36.9-percent climb recorded between July 2021 and July 2022. Production prices for the domestic market were 45.9 percent higher in July than a year earlier.
Meanwhile, industrial producer prices in August were 2.8 percent higher month-on-month, with a 3.5-percent increase for production for the domestic market.
These increases were mainly due to higher energy costs, ISTAT said. Excluding direct energy costs, the year-on-year increase in August was 13 percent.
"In August, industry producer prices recorded a new monthly increase and sharply accelerated year-on-year growth, mainly due to the intense upward dynamics on the domestic market in electricity and gas supply prices and assets," ISTAT said.
The increases were registered across all economic sectors, led by large increases in production related to coke and refined petroleum products, and the wood, paper, and printing industry.
Industry producer indexes are a key economic indicator that measures the costs of industrial production. ■