EU Inflation Accelerates to 3 Percent: Croatia Fifth
Eurostat releases July data. Croatia at 3.6 percent among countries with highest price growth, though it recorded a significant slowdown compared to June.
Eurostat releases July data. Croatia at 3.6 percent among countries with highest price growth, though it recorded a significant slowdown compared to June.
The annual inflation rate in the European Union, measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), stood at 3.0 percent in July, Eurostat reported on Wednesday. This marks a return to an upward trend after a brief respite in June, when it was 2.9 percent. Compared with the same month last year, inflation in the EU was notably higher, as it stood at 2.4 percent in July 2023.
In May, EU inflation reached 3.3 percent, the highest level since December 2023. On a monthly basis, prices in the Union rose slightly by 0.2 percent, while in June consumer prices had fallen by 0.1 percent, the first decline since the start of the year. At the monthly level, both the eurozone and the EU recorded inflation of 0.2 percent in July.
In the eurozone, consumer prices rose by 2.9 percent in July, up from 2.8 percent in June, confirming Eurostat's preliminary estimate. Energy prices rose slightly more than indicated by early-month data, reaching 10.3 percent. Fresh food prices increased by 2.4 percent, slightly less than initial estimates. The largest contribution to annual inflation in the eurozone in July came from services, adding 1.55 percentage points, followed by energy with 0.94 percentage points. Industrial goods excluding energy, along with food, alcohol, and tobacco, each contributed 0.23 percentage points.
Croatia ranks fifth in the EU for consumer price growth, with an annual inflation rate of 3.6 percent in July. This is a significant slowdown from June, when inflation stood at 4.2 percent according to revised data. Belgium recorded the same rate of price growth in July. On an annual basis, inflation slowed in 15 EU member states in July, remained stable in three, and rose in nine.
The strongest annual price growth was again recorded in Romania, where inflation reached 8.2 percent. Lithuania followed with 5.4 percent, while Cyprus and Bulgaria shared third place with a rate of 4.4 percent. Slovenia recorded annual inflation of 3.0 percent, matching the EU average, down from 3.7 percent in June and 3.8 percent in May.
The mildest consumer price increases were in Sweden and the Czech Republic, both non-eurozone members, at 0.3 and 1.3 percent, respectively. They were followed by Denmark and Hungary, also outside the eurozone, with inflation rates of 1.6 percent. On a monthly basis, Slovenia recorded a price decline of 0.3 percent in July.
