The final data published by Eurostat showed that consumer price growth slowed in January, confirming economists' forecasts and reaching its lowest level since June 2022. However, the underlying price pressure still shows no signs of easing.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 8.6% per year after an increase by 9.2% in December. European Union annual inflation was 10.0% in January, down from 10.4% in December. Still, the rate remained well above the ECB's target of 2%, suggesting policymakers might continue their policy tightening campaign for some time. The ECB has already promised another 0,5% interest rate hike in March and markets then see another 0,75% of moves thereafter, putting the rate peak in the vicinity of 3.75%.
Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index fell by 0.2%, as expected, after declining by 0.4% in December. It was the third monthly price decline in a row.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose by 5.3% per year (fresh record high) after an increase by 5.2% per year in December. Economists had expected the index to grow by 5.2% per annum.
The data also showed that the largest contribution to the growth of annual inflation was made by food, alcohol & tobacco (+2.94%), energy (+2.17%), services (+1.80%) and non-energy industrial goods (+1.73%).