Romania boasted the highest annual inflation rate in the European Union in October 2024, with a rate of 5.0%, new data from Eurostat has shown.
Other euro area countries to report a high inflation rate for the month included Estonia (4.5%), Belgium (4.5%), Poland (4.2%), Croatia (3.6%) and Slovakia (3.5%).
At the other end of the spectrum, Slovenia reported the lowest annual inflation rate for the month, of 0.0%, while the rate in Ireland (0.1%) and Lithuania (0.1%) was also minimal.
European Union inflation
Annual inflation in the European Union stood at 2.3% for the month, up from 2.1% in September 2024, but down from 3.6% in October 2023.
In the euro area, meanwhile, annual inflation reached 2.0% in October 2024, up from 1.7% in September but lower than the 2.9% recorded a year earlier.
According to the Eurostat data, among the 27 Member States, inflation rose in 19, remained unchanged in six, and fell in two.
The primary contributors to euro area inflation in October 2024 were services, which added 1.77 percentage points to the annual rate, followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco at 0.56 points, and non-energy industrial goods at 0.13 points.
At the same time, energy prices exerted a downward pressure, subtracting 0.45 points from the total inflation rate.
On a month-on-monthh basis, inflation rose by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.4% across the EU, with variations reflecting differences in national price dynamics.
Energy prices, while still exerting negative pressure, showed signs of stabilisation compared to earlier in the year. Unprocessed food and services were significant contributors to the inflationary trend, with services maintaining their position as the largest driver of inflation. Read more here.
Annual inflation rate in October 2024 by EU member state (%)
| Country | Annual Inflation Rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Euro area | 2.0% |
| EU | 2.3% |
| Belgium | 4.5% |
| Bulgaria | 2.0% |
| Czechia | 3.0% |
| Denmark | 1.6% |
| Germany | 2.4% |
| Estonia | 4.5% |
| Ireland | 0.1% |
| Greece | 3.1% |
| Spain | 1.8% |
| France | 1.6% |
| Croatia | 3.6% |
| Italy | 1.0% |
| Cyprus | 1.6% |
| Latvia | 2.1% |
| Lithuania | 0.1% |
| Luxembourg | 0.9% |
| Hungary | 3.4% |
| Malta | 2.4% |
| Netherlands | 3.3% |
| Austria | 1.8% |
| Poland | 4.2% |
| Portugal | 2.6% |
| Romania | 5.0% |
| Slovenia | 0.0% |
| Slovakia | 3.5% |
| Finland | 1.5% |
| Sweden | 1.6% |
