The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth accelerated in November, but weaker than economists' forecasts and preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, core inflation has remained unchanged again. Overall, the data showed that while the disinflation process is on track, there is still more progress needed going into next year.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.2% per year after an increase of 2.0% per year in October. Economists had expected an increase of 2.3%. European Union annual inflation was 2.5% in November, up from 2.3% in October. A year earlier, the rate was 3.1%.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index fell by 0.3%, as expected, after a 0.3% increase in October. This was the sharpest decline since January, when the CPI fell by 0.4%
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 2.7% per year, as expected, after a similar increase in October. Thus, inflation remained at its lowest level since February 2022.
The data also showed that the highest contribution to the annual inflation rate came from services (+1.74%), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.53%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.17%) and energy (-0.19%).
The lowest annual rates were registered in Ireland (0.5%), Lithuania and Luxembourg (both 1.1%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (5.4%), Belgium (4.8%) and Croatia (4.0%). Compared with October, annual inflation fell in four Member States, remained stable in three and rose in twenty.