Euro area inflation ticks up to 2.6% in July

The euro area’s annual inflation rate increased slightly to 2.6 per cent in July 2024 from 2.5 per cent in June, a significant decrease from the 5.3 per cent rate recorded a year earlier.

For the European Union as a whole, inflation rose to 2.8 per cent in July from 2.6 per cent the previous month, down from 6.1 per cent a year ago.

Among EU member states, Finland recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 0.5 per cent, followed by Latvia at 0.8 per cent and Denmark at 1.0 per cent. Conversely, Romania, Belgium, and Hungary saw the highest inflation rates, at 5.8 per cent, 5.4 per cent, and 4.1 per cent, respectively.

In July, services contributed the most to the euro area’s annual inflation rate, adding 1.82 percentage points.

This was followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco, which contributed 0.45 percentage points, non-energy industrial goods at 0.19 percentage points, and energy at 0.12 percentage points. Inflation trends varied across the EU, with decreases in nine member states, stability in four, and increases in fourteen.