Eurozone, inflation rises again after 13 straight drops: 2.9% in December

Brussels – Inflation in the eurozone is rising again, after 13 straight drops. Preliminary estimates from Eurostat show that as of December 2023, the cost-of-living index reached 2.9 percent, up half a point compared with November (2.4 percent). Driving up general inflation were unprocessed foods (6.7 percent in December, up 0.3 points) and energy, whose decline halved (-6.7 percent in December compared with -11.5 in November).

Considering the other main components of the reference basket, the European Statistical Institute forecasts for December 2023 a 6.1 percent for food, alcohol and tobacco (up from 6,9 percent in November), a 4 percent for services (stable compared to November), a 2.5 percent for non-energy industrial goods (compared to 2.9 percent in November).

At the country level, the two major eurozone economies are seeing a turnaround resulting in higher inflation: + 1.5 percentage points in Germany (from 2.3 to 3.8 percent), and +0.2 points in France (from 3.9 to 4.1 percent). Stable at 3.3 percent is inflation in Spain, while Italy, should the data be confirmed in two weeks, would see a further 0.1 points reduction (from 0.6 to 0.5 percent).