Italian consumer prices fell year-on-year in 2016 for the first time since 1959, according to provisional estimates by the national statistics bureau out Wednesday.

Prices were down 0.1 percent in 2016 after 2015 saw inflation of 0.1 per cent, according to Istat.

Core inflation - which excludes energy and unprocessed food prices - was at 0.5 per cent last year, compared to 0.7 per cent in 2015.

The December 2016 national consumer price index rose by 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis and 0.5 per cent compared to December 2015. However, this was not enough to offset the overall yearly figure, Istat data showed.