Eurozone inflation rises to highest level since July in December

According to Eurostat’s flash estimate, the annual inflation rate in the eurozone rose to its highest since July in December 2024, rising to 2.4 percent, as expected, from 2.2 percent in November.

On a monthly basis, the price index rose by 0.4 percent in December after a monthly decrease of 0.3 percent in November.

The highest inflation rate was in Croatia, 4.5 percent after 4.0 percent in November, and in Belgium, 4.4 percent after 4.8 percent in November. The lowest inflation rate was in Ireland, 1.0 percent after 0.5 percent in the previous month, in Lithuania, 1.4 percent after 1.1 percent, and in Luxembourg, 1.6 percent after 1.1 percent.

In the eurozone’s largest economies, inflation rose to 2.8 percent in Germany from 2.4 percent in November, to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent in France, and to 2.8 percent from 2.4 percent in Spain. In Italy, however, it slowed to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, remained stable at 2.7 percent. Core inflation rose 0.5 percent month-on-month in December after a 0.6 percent monthly decline in November.

Services prices rose the most, with an annual rate of 4.0 percent in December, slightly higher than the 3.9 percent in November. The food, alcohol and tobacco price index rose by 2.7 percent in both November and December.

The non-energy industrial goods price index fell slightly to 0.5 percent in December from 0.6 percent in November.

The development of energy prices changed significantly, from minus 2.0 percent in November to plus 0.1 percent in December, indicating a transition from deflation to mild inflation in this sector.