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Prices in Italy were 8.4 per cent higher in August than they were a year earlier, a level that had not been recorded since December 1985, the country's National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) reported.

Preliminary data from ISTAT on Wednesday showed prices in August were 0.8 per cent higher than in July, Xinhua news agency reported.

Energy-related goods were the main factor behind the jump, ISTAT said, with a year-on-year increase of 44.9 per cent, higher than the 42.9-per cent rise in July compared to a year earlier.

Over the three months starting in June, Italy's annualised inflation rate has been 8 per cent, 7.9 per cent, and 8.4 per cent, respectively -- the three highest monthly totals on record since the formal creation of the euro currency in 1999.

Despite the increase in energy prices, the rate of increase for transportation services slowed slightly in August, rising by 8.4 per cent compared to a year earlier, down from the 8.9-per cent annualised increase registered in July.

Prices for consumer goods rose to 11.8 per cent, while costs for services climbed 3.7 per cent, ISTAT added.

Meanwhile, the core inflation rate, which excludes prices for energy and volatile consumer goods like food, was 4.4 per cent, the highest rate since May 1996.