Eurozone March inflation higher than expected, up 0.7 percentage points from February

Brussels – Due to the war in Iran and rising energy prices, Eurozone inflation rose even more than expected: Eurostat has revised the preliminary estimates upwards by 0.1 percentage point, with the result that in March inflation stood at 2.7 percent (instead of 2.6 percent), a jump of 0.7 percentage points compared to February’s figures (1.9 percent).

 Energy is driving up the cost of living (5.1 percent, compared with -3.1 percent in February), with the index revised upwards from preliminary estimates (4.9 percent). The figures for Services have been confirmed (3.2 percent, compared to 3.4 percent in February), as have those for food, alcohol, and tobacco (2.4 percent, compared to 2.5 percent in February), and non-energy industrial goods (0.5 percent, compared to 0.7 percent in February). 

At Member State level, there have been sharp rises in France (2 percent, compared with the preliminary 1.9 percent and +0.9 percentage points compared with February), Germany (2.8 percent, +0.8 pp), and Spain (3.4 percent, up from the preliminary 3.3 percent and +0.9 percentage points more than February), while in Italy, it is no longer stable (rising to 1.6 percent, +0.1 percentage points compared to February). In Luxembourg, high energy costs have even pushed overall inflation up by 2 percentage points (3.8 percent, up from 1.8 percent in February). Ireland is also feeling the pinch of high energy bills, with inflation rising by 1.1 percentage points in just one month (to 3.6 percent). 

The final inflation figures will now be used by the European Central Bank’s Governing Council for monetary policy decisions it is due to take in two weeks (29 and 30 April). The sharp rise in inflation over the past month, which has pushed the rate above the 2 percent target, could be a reason for further interest rate rises. After all, the president of the ECB herself, Christine Lagarde, has made no secret of being ready to do so, given the situation