The annual inflation rate in the European Union decreased to 2.4% in August 2024 from 2.8% in July 2024.
In August, the EU member states with the lowest annual inflation rates were Lithuania (0.8%) and Latvia (0.9%). At the opposite pole, the EU member countries with the highest inflation rates were Romania (5.3%), Belgium (4.3%) and Poland (4%).
Compared to the data from July 2024, the annual inflation rate decreased in 20 member states, including Romania, from 5.8% to 5.3%, remained stable in one country and increased in six states members. In the euro area, the annual inflation rate decreased to 2.2% in August from 2.6% in July.
However, Eurostat data shows that core inflation, i.e. what remains after prices for volatile goods such as energy and food are removed, remained stable at 2.8%. Another indicator that, in addition to energy and food prices, also excludes cigarette and alcohol prices, decreased slightly, from 2.9% to 2.8%. Core inflation is the indicator closely followed by the ECB when elaborating its monetary policy decisions.
Romania’s annual inflation took a step back but stayed above 5%, reaching 5.1% in August 2024, after climbing to 5.4% in July 2024, data from the country’s statistics board INS showed on Sept 11. Also, the consumer price index in August 2024 versus July 2024 inched 0.23% higher.
The average rate of change in consumer prices over the last 12 months (September 2023-August 2024) as compared to the previous 12 months (September 2022-August 2023) is 6.5%.
The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in August 2024 compared to July 2024 is 100.28%. The HICP-based annual inflation rate in August 2024 compared to August 2023 is 5.3%. The HICP-based average rate of change in consumer prices over the last 12 months (September 2023-August 2024) as compared to the previous 12 months (September 2022-August 2023) is 6.7%.
Romania’s central bank expects the inflation to go down to 4% in December 2024 and 3.4% in the last month of 2025, a better outlook than in the previous forecast, particularly for the end of 2024, the institution said in the minute of the monetary policy meeting of August 7, 2024. The bank had previously estimated 4.9% inflation for the end of 2024 and 3.5% for the end of 2025.