The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth accelerated in December, confirming economists' forecasts and preliminary estimates. Meanwhile, core inflation has remained unchanged again.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.4% per year (the highest reading since July) after an increase of 2.2% per year in November. Economists also expected an increase of 2.4%. European Union annual inflation was 2.7% in December, up from 2.5% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 3.4%.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.4%, as expected, after a 0.3% decline in November. This was the sharpest increase since April.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 2.7% per year 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 (+1.78%), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.51%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.13%) and energy (+0.01%).
The lowest annual rates were registered in Ireland (1.0%), Italy (1.4%), Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden (all 1.6%). The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (5.5%), Hungary (4.8%) and Croatia (4.5%). Compared with November 2024, annual inflation fell in seven Member States, remained stable in one and rose in nineteen.