Annual harmonised inflation reached 3.5% in October 2024

The annual price growth measured by the harmonised index of consumer prices according to the common EU methodology has accelerated and reached its third highest value this year.

The annual inflation measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices according to the European common methodology reached the value 3.5% in October 2024. It is by 0.6 percentage points higher than the annual September 2024 inflation. Annual inflation compares the change in the price level in the observed month of a given year compared to the price level of the same month in the previous year.

The total harmonized index of consumer prices increased by 0.8% compared to the previous month. The month-on-month increase in the index was mainly influenced by the increase in prices in the division Food and non-alcoholic beverages (the total positive contribution to month-on-month inflation was +0.55 percentage points). Higher positive contributions to month-on-month inflation were also recorded in the divisions: Clothing and footwear (+0.06 p.p.), Restaurants and hotels (+0.04 p.p.), Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (+0.04 p.p.). On the contrary, the highest negative contribution to the month-on-month inflation was achieved in the division Transport (the negative contribution of the entire division was -0.05 p.p.).

The average annual rate of HICP inflation (comparing change in the average price level for the average of the harmonized consumer price indices for the last 12 months compared to the average of the previous 12 months) reached in October 2024 the value 3.7%, which represented a decrease of 0.3 percentage points compared to its value in September 2024.

The average annual HICP inflation rate is an important indicator of a country’s price stability, its level is also considered as one of the four so-called Maastricht criteria that an EU Member State must meet before adopting the euro.

Eurostat will publish harmonised inflation figures for October 2024 in the EU and EFTA countries on 19 November 2024 at 11:00 on its website.