Spain's consumer prices rose 1.9% year-on-year in June, below the 2% threshold for the first time since March 2021, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Thursday.

The 12-month inflation was lower than the 3.2% rate in May but above the 1.7% expected by analysts polled by Reuters. The indicator was not that low since the period through March 2021, when prices rose 1.3%, INE data showed.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, was 5.9% year-on-year, down from 6.1% in the period through May, INE said.

Spain's European Union-harmonised 12-month inflation was 1.6%, down from 2.9% in May and slightly above the 1.5% average expectation from analysts polled by Reuters. (Reporting by Joao Manuel Mauricio in Gdansk, editing by Inti Landauro)