Eurozone inflation quickens to decade high in August

Eurozone inflation accelerated as initially estimated in August to a near-decade high, final data from Eurostat showed on Friday.

Inflation sped up to 3 percent in August from 2.2 percent in July. This was the highest since November 2011 and also exceeded the European Central Bank’s 2-per-cent target.

Rising costs from shipping to energy were likely to push eurozone inflation up even further in the coming months, Jack Allen-Reynolds, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

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They might also mean that it did not fall quite as quickly as currently assumed next year, said Allen-Reynolds.

“But by the end of 2022, we still suspect that inflation will be a long way below the ECB’s target.’’

Core inflation that excluded energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, advanced to 1.6 per cent from 0.7 percent in July.

The core rate also matched the flash estimate published on Aug. 31.

On a monthly basis, the harmonised index of consumer prices gained 0.4 per cent in August, as estimated.

According to the latest ECB staff projections, released early this month, inflation will rise to 2.2 percent this year before slowing to 1.7 per cent in 2022.