Eurozone inflation rose to a new all-time high in June, according to a Friday report first estimate from Eurostat statistics office. The price increase last month was 8.6 percent compared to the same month last year. In May it was still 8.1 percent.
As in the Netherlands, inflation in the euro area is being driven by sky-high energy prices. Compared to June last year, they rose by just under 42 percent, an increase compared to May. Furthermore, the prices of food, drink and tobacco are also rising faster than in previous months.
What is striking is that inflation is increasing in seventeen of the nineteen countries; only in the Netherlands and Germany was inflation slightly lower in June than in May. Outliers are the Baltic states: inflation in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia rose in June to 22.5, 20.5 and 19 percent respectively. In the Netherlands, the currency depreciation amounted to 9.9 percent, it appeared earlier.
At 8.6 percent, inflation in the eurozone is rising slightly faster than economists had expected. This may have an impact on the next meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB). The central bank has previously indicated that it will soon raise the main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, but there is a chance that another quarter may be added. The next policy meeting is scheduled for July 21.
