As of April 2025, the inflation rate in the European Union was 2.4 percent, with prices rising fastest in Romania, which had an inflation rate of 4.9 percent. By contrast, both France and Cyprus saw low inflation rates during the same period, with France having the lowest inflation rate in the EU during this month. The rate of inflation in the EU in the October 2022 was higher than at any other time, with the peak prior to 2021 recorded in July 2008 when prices were growing by 4.4 percent year-on-year. Before the recent rises in inflation, price rises in the EU had been kept at relatively low levels, with the inflation rate remaining below three percent between January 2012 and August 2021. Rapid recovery and energy costs driving inflation The reopening of the European economy in 2021 following the sudden shock of COVID-19 in 2020 is behind many of the factors that have caused prices to rise so quickly in 2022. Global supply chains have not yet recovered from production issues, travel restrictions, and workforce problems brought about by the pandemic. Rising energy costs have only served to exacerbate supply problems, particularly with regard to the transport sector, which had the highest inflation rate of any sector in the EU in December 2021. High inflation rates mirrored in the U.S. The high inflation rates seen in Europe have been reflected in other parts of the world. In the United States, for example, the consumer price index reached a 40-year-high of seven percent in December 2021, influenced by many of the same factors driving European inflation. Nevertheless, it is hoped that once these supply chain issues ease, inflation levels will start to fall throughout the course of 2022.

Inflation Rate In the Euro Area decreased to 1.90 percent in May from 2.20 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In December 2024, energy prices increased by approximately 0.7 percent in the European Union, when compared with a year earlier, according to the harmonized index of consumer prices index. This represents a change compared to the dramatic deflation of energy prices experienced between September 2023 and April 2024. During December 2024, the inflation rate for food prices was three percent, while in non-energy industrial goods, costs were estimated to have gone up by 0.7 percent. For services, prices in December 2024 have increased by 4.2 percent compared to the previous year.

Inflation Rate in European Union decreased to 2.20 percent in May from 2.40 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - European Union Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The inflation rate in the European Union was 2.4 percent in April 2025, a significant decline from the high-point reached in October 2022 of 11.5 percent, the highest rate of inflation recorded in the provided time period. Before 2021, the inflation rate in the EU peaked at 4.4 percent in July 2008 and was lowest in January 2015, when prices were shrinking by 0.5 percent. Currently, Romania has the highest inflation rate among EU member states at 4.9 percent, while France has the lowest inflation rate, at 0.9 percent.

This data package includes the underlying data files to replicate the data and charts presented in The Inflation Surge in Europe by Patrick Honohan, PIIE Policy Brief 24-2.

If you use the data, please cite as: Honohan, Patrick. 2024. The Inflation Surge in Europe. PIIE Policy Brief 24-2. Washington, DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

This dataset provides values for INFLATION RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Core consumer prices in European Union increased 2.40 percent in May of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides - European Union Core Inflation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Historical chart and dataset showing European Union inflation rate by year from 1960 to 2023.

Core consumer prices In the Euro Area increased 2.30 percent in June of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area Core Inflation Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The statistic shows the inflation rate in the Euro area from December 2022 to December 2024. The term inflation means the devaluation of money caused by a permanent increase of the price level for products (consumer goods, investment goods). The Consumer Price Index shows the price development for private expenses and shows the current level of inflation when increasing. In December 2024, the inflation rate in the Euro area reached 2.4 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

Inflation in the Euro currency area, which hit a peak of 10.6 percent in October 2022, is set to continue to fall in 2025. Economic forecasts predict that the HICP inflation rate will range between 2.2 percent and 2 percent over the year. This sustained decrease follows a downward trend that began in 2024 when inflation settled at .2.4 percent.

In December 2024, the inflation rate in Russia stood at around 9.5 percent compared to the same month in the previous year, showing an increase. The rate has been rising since October 2024. The highest rate during the observed period was recorded in April 2022, at 17.8 percent. The term inflation means the devaluation of money caused by a permanent increase in the price level for products (consumer goods, investment goods). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows the price development for private expenses and shows the current level of inflation when increasing. Russia's economy, an outlook The Russian economy was expected to grow by 1.6 percent in 2025 despite the Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022. At the same time, consumer prices were projected to grow by around five percent in 2025 relative to the previous year. In 2024, the inflation rate was estimated at 7.9 percent. Prices in Russia Russia’s economy is highly dependent on and affected by the price of oil. The price of the Urals crude oil stood at approximately 62 U.S. dollars per barrel in December 2024, having demonstrated an increase from the previous month. The highest producer price index (PPI) was recorded in the electricity and gas supply sector, with a price growth rate of over 12 percent in September 2024.

As of 2024, the inflation rate in Turkey stood at 61 percent, the highest among all EU candidate countries. Inflation was around five percent in Moldova, Ukraine, and Serbia. The convergence of economic conditions towards that of the rest of the European Union is an important part of the Copenhagen Criteria - the political, economic, and institutional conditions which must be satisfied for a country to enter the European Union. Fulfilling the economic criteria for entry into the EU is supposed to guarantee that a new member state has a functioning market economy which can handle the economic pressures of competition in the European Single Market.

Cost of food in European Union increased 3.60 percent in May of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. This dataset provides - European Union Food Inflation - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Since 2021, the large economies of Western Europe have been experiencing a surge in inflation, with inflation reaching as high as 11.84 percent in Italy during October 2022. During 2023 the rate of inflation in all these economies has fallen significantly, reaching as low as 0.67 percent in Italy and 3.17 percent in Germany. This inflationary episode is understood by economists to have been caused by several factors, notably the supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, pent-up consumer demand which was released after lockdowns ended, as well as policies of monetary and fiscal stimulus during the pandemic aimed at boosting economic activity.

The Consumer Price Index In the Euro Area decreased 0 percent in May of 2025 over the previous month. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - Euro Area Inflation Rate MoM - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

This dataset provides values for FOOD INFLATION reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

In December 2024, the inflation rate for food in the European Union (EU) reached 2.4 percent compared to the same month the year prior. Starting in the beginning of 2022, food prices started to rise rapidly. In March 2023, the food inflation rate in the EU reached its peak at 19.19 percent. Since April 2023, the rate started to decrease. Food inflation in Europe One of the main drivers of the increase in consumer prices was the rapid rise in energy prices. In the energy sector, the harmonized index of consumer prices inflation of the EU, a concept to measure and compare inflation internationally, was at 41.1 percent in June 2022, whereas the other categories were all below 10 percent. In Germany, the year-on-year consumer price index development for food and beverages was at 12.33 percent in the year 2023, just a slight dip from the all-time high of 12.51 percent in 2022. By 2024, this had dropped to 1.92 percent. There are a number of ways in which European consumers are trying to save on food costs due to rising prices. The most popular way to deal with the rising food prices is to reduce at-home food waste. An average of about half of consumers in selected European countries stated that this is how they responded to the price increases. Other popular ways were to buy only the essentials or to purchase mostly store brands. Food inflation worldwide In 2022, Europe and Central Asia were the regions with the highest food inflation rates worldwide. The rate of food inflation in those regions was about 18 percent in 2022, which is more than twice as high as it was in the previous year. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the food inflation rate rose from 5.4 to 11.9 percent during the same period. When categorized by income classification, low-income countries have significantly higher food price inflation, as compared to lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and high-income countries. On average, low-income countries had a food price inflation rate of about 30 percent in 2023. The world average rate was at 6.5 percent. Zimbabwe was the country with the highest level of real food inflation worldwide. The southern African country experienced a food inflation of approximately 46 percent in 2024. This was more than two times as high as in any other country in the world.

The inflation rates of various energy commodities in the European Union began to decrease in late 2022 after skyrocketing earlier that year. Liquid fuels' inflation rate stood at -12 percent in November 2024 after having seen the steepest increase in June 2022 at 88 percent. These developments occurred following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has been the cause of uncertainty over Europe's security of gas supply, as well as intense energy price volatility. In 2024, the electricity and gas prices showed an increasing trend.