Eurozone inflation "losing ground" and dropped to single digits

Eurozone annual inflation returned to single digits at 9.2% at the end of December, according to a quick estimate released by Eurostat this morning.

The first decline was noted back in November, but then the figure was double-digit – at the level of 10.1%. The main factor that influenced the decline in inflation was the return of gas prices to pre-war levels, which was facilitated by abnormally warm weather and a decrease in demand for blue fuel.

News, of course, pleases, although the inflation rate in the eurozone is almost five times higher than the target of 2%, which was set by the European Central Bank. However, the downward trend, as noted by Eurostat, continues.

In most member countries with the euro as a currency, inflation has decreased over the past month, while in Germany it is quite noticeable – from 11.3% in November to 9.6% in December. Elsewhere: Spain (5.6%), Luxembourg (6.2%) and France (6.7%) recorded the lowest inflation in the bloc, while Latvia (20.7%), Lithuania (20%) and Estonia (17.5%) again showed the highest level.

Energy inflation fell sharply, from 34.9% in November to 25.7% in December, while fresh food prices declined more moderately, from 13.8% to 12.% over the past month.

Core inflation, which excludes volatility in energy, food and tobacco prices and provides a more accurate picture of the state of the economy, rose from 5% in November to 5.2% in December.

Nine of the 19 members of the eurozone still have double-digit inflation. Croatia, which adopted the euro at the beginning of 2023, was not included in the assessment.

As our publication reported, the consequences of the global crisis had practically no effect on Greece, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on the air of Parapolitika 90.1 radio station on Thursday. Therefore, the state of the Greek economy is better than in most of Europe, and the numbers indicate that Greece will not go into recession, as is predicted to happen for half of European countries.

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