Eurozone Inflation Accelerated to Record 10.6% in October: Eurostat

In recent months, protests have swept across several European countries as citizens demand pay rises, urgent measures to tackle rising inflation and comprehensive steps to mitigate soaring energy prices amid mass lay-offs and industry closures.

The annual inflation in eurozone countries accelerated to a record 10.6% in October from 9.9% a month earlier, the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat, said on Thursday.

"The euro area annual inflation rate was 10.6% in October 2022, up from 9.9% in September. A year earlier, the rate was 4.1%. European Union annual inflation was 11.5% in October 2022, up from 10.9% in September. A year earlier, the rate was 4.4%,"Eurostat said in a statement.

In 27 EU countries, the annual price growth in October was 11.5% after an increase of 10.9% a month earlier. Relative to the previous month, prices in the EU increased by 1.4%.

The lowest inflation in annual terms in October was observed in France (7.1%) and Malta (7.4%). The highest growth in consumer prices was recorded in Estonia (22.5%), Lithuania (22.1%) and Hungary (21.9%). In Germany, annual inflation accelerated to 11.6% from 10.9% in September, in Italy - to 12.6% after 9.4%. in Spain, it slowed down to 7.3% from 9%.

Besides inflation, energy prices in EU countries have been surging as part of a global trend. After the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the EU, energy prices accelerated their rise, placing energy security high on both the global and national agendas, and pushing many European governments to resort to contingency measures.