Not just expensive fuel: record increases in technology and fresh food in October, but butter and oil are falling

Inflation in October 2026 recorded a trend growth of +5.4% on an annual basis. A driven inflationary push has not only affected the energy and fuel sectors: in a country dominated by the transport of goods by road, the high cost of fuel in recent months has also led to an increase in costs in other sectors. As in the case of specific technological goods and fresh food, on the other hand there is no shortage of sectors in strong contrast with the trend, where price lists show reassuring declines.

The absolute record of increases goes to an unsuspected category: unregistered recording media (such as SD cards and flash drives), which show a record growth of +107.8% compared to the same month of the previous year. In the technological and electronic sector, cost tensions are widely felt: information and communication accessories grow by +41.1%, followed by computers, laptops and tablets which record a leap of +29.5%. These are all sectors affected by the CIP war which also feels the competition from the demand for the materials necessary for artificial intelligence.

Naturally, energy goods continue to have a significant impact on household budgets. Regulated energy sources recorded an increase of +59.5%, driven by liquid fuels (+45.5%), natural gas distributed via the network (+38.5%) and electricity (+35.8%). In the transport and private mobility sector, diesel fuel recorded a +37.6%, clearly exceeding the increase observed for petrol (+19.4%), less marked thanks to the price cap placed by some companies.

Shifting attention to the food shopping cart, inflation hits hard on some types of fresh products. Fruit vegetables (such as tomatoes, peppers and aubergines) jumped by +30.9%, alongside berries and berries (+29.3%). Double-digit increases also affected leaf and stem vegetables (+13.0%) and fresh legumes (+11.7%).