Jan 30 (Reuters) - Spain's European-Union harmonised inflation rose 3.5% in the 12 months through January driven by higher electricity prices, up from a 3.3% increase in the period through December, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Tuesday.
The 12-month harmonised inflation was above the 3.1% expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
"Electricity pulled up the CPI in January because its price increased, compared to the drop it had in January last year," INE said.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile fresh food and energy prices, rose 3.6% in the 12 months through January, down from 3.8% in the previous month.
Spanish 12-month national consumer prices rose 3.4% through January, up from a 3.1% increase in December and also above the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters.
Spain's January inflation was one of the lowest among major economies in the euro zone, although it still exceeded the European Central Bank's 2% target.
The Bank of Spain said in December it sees EU-harmonised inflation at 3.3% in 2024 before falling to 2% in 2025 and to 1.9% in 2026. (Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by David Latona)
