BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, confirmed that in July inflation in the Euro zone reached a new record high of 8.9 percent year-on-year, with core measures, excluding the most volatile components, also rising.
Consumer prices in the 19 Eurozone countries rose 0.1 percent month-on-month in July, the highest since the launch of the single currency in 1999, Eurosat added, noting that of the total, 4.02 percentage points came from more expensive energy caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 2.08 percentage points was due to more costly food, alcohol and tobacco.
However, prices were still higher by 5.1 percent year-on-year in July, even when these most volatile components are excluded.
The headline inflation target of the European Central Bank is 2.0 percent.
In July, the European Central Bank, after years of loose monetary policies, also began a tightening cycle, but the prices of services, which account for more than two-thirds of the Eurozone’s GDP, still rose 3.7 percent year-on-year, adding 1.6 percentage points.
Compared with 12 months ago, industrial goods were 4.5 percent more expensive, adding 1.16 percentage points to the final figure.
