Inflation in the eurozone declines significantly
Inflation in the eurozone weakened significantly in November. Consumer prices were 2.4 percent higher than in the same month last year, according to the statistics office Eurostat in Luxembourg. In the previous month, inflation had amounted to 2.9 percent and a year ago it was 10.1 percent. In a monthly comparison, prices fell by 0.5 percent in November.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile prices for energy and food, also fell significantly. From this perspective, the inflation rate fell from 4.2% to 3.6%. In the opinion of many economists, core inflation reflects underlying inflation and therefore represents the inflation trend somewhat better than the overall rate.
Although food and luxury goods were still significantly more expensive than a year ago, the upward price trend slowed from 7.4 to 6.9 percent. Prices for services and other goods also rose less than in the previous month. Energy prices again fell significantly by 11.5%.
Despite the decline in inflation, the European Central Bank's (ECB) medium-term inflation target of two percent has been exceeded. Many experts expect that it will be some time before the target is reached on a sustainable basis. The ECB has raised its key interest rates sharply since summer 2022, but recently left them unchanged.
Although the decline in inflation might be good news for some consumers, as stated by Eurostat, the overall prices in the eurozone still remain higher than the previous year, with prices for food and luxury goods continuing to increase albeit at a slower pace. Many consumers are closely monitoring the price trends, as the costs of living continue to affect their purchasing decisions in the eurozone.
Source: www.dpa.com
