2023-08-31 10:53:29
The euro zone’s annual inflation rate remained stable in August at 5.3%, as in July, while energy prices fell less sharply than in previous months, Eurostat announced on Thursday.
The figure is higher than analysts’ expectations from Factset and Bloomberg, who on average expected a slowdown to 5.1%.
Inflation in the 20 countries sharing the single currency has been halved since the record 10.6% reached in October 2022 when the effects of the war in Ukraine on gas and oil prices were felt in full.
But it remains well above the 2% target set by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Chart showing the evolution of inflation in the euro area since 1997
AFP
Thursday’s data marked a pause in the slowdown in inflation that had continued uninterrupted since May.
The reason is energy prices, which continue to fall from the very high levels reached last year, but less markedly than in previous months. Their fall was limited to 3.3% in August, once morest 6.1% in July.
The main contribution to inflation now comes from food prices (including alcohol and tobacco), which soared another 10.4% year-on-year in August, but are still slightly slower compared to July (+11.3%).
Similarly, the rise in the prices of industrial goods (excluding energy) was lower in August (4.8% following 5% in July).
The increase in the prices of services slowed down only very moderately to 5.5% (-0.1 point).
Within the euro zone, Belgium and Spain recorded the lowest inflation in August at 2.4% year on year, according to harmonized data published by Eurostat.
It reached 5.7% in France and 6.4% in Germany, while Slovakia (9.6%) and Croatia (8.5%) had the highest rates.
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