Spain's inflation rises at fastest pace in more than three years

Oct 14 (Reuters) - Spain's inflation rose in September at its fastest pace since February 2023, mostly due to an increase in the price of fuel and air travel, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Wednesday.

The European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation rate rose to 5.0% in September, up from 4.6% in the period through August, final data released by the INE showed.

The INE's final data was in line with the 5.0% forecast in both the flash reading released two weeks ago and the average estimate from analysts polled by Reuters.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, rose to 3.1% in the 12 months through September, up from 2.9% in the period through August, the INE said.

Following a worldwide wave of high inflation spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Spain's inflation spiked to 1984 levels in 2022 and has since mostly remained above the European Central Bank's 2% goal.

Spanish national consumer prices rose by 4.9% in the 12 months through September, up from a 4.3% increase in the period through August, and in line with the 4.9% rate initially measured by the INE two weeks ago.

(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga; Editing by David Latona)