Annual harmonized inflation fell in June 2024 and returned to April's value 2.4%

The annual inflation measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices according to the European harmonized methodology reached the value 2.4% in June 2024, which was 0,2 percentage points lower than its value in  the previous month.  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 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 June 2024 the value 5,6%, which represents a decrease of 0.7 percentage points compared to its value in May 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.

In June 2024, the total harmonized index of consumer prices reached 100.0% compared to the previous month. This value was caused by the two-sided development of prices in individual divisions - spending groups of households. The highest positive contributions and thus price increases were seen in the following divisions: Recreation and culture (total positive contribution of +0.04 percentage points to month-on-month inflation), Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (total positive contribution of +0.04 p.p.) and Furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance (total positive contribution +0.03 p.p.). On the contrary, the drop in prices and the highest negative contributions to month-on-month inflation were achieved in the divisions: Food and non-alcoholic beverages (the negative contribution of the entire division was -0.06 p.p.) and Transport (the negative contribution was -0.04 p.p.).

The resulting summary of harmonized inflation within Europe for June 2024 can be found on 17 July 2024 from 11 a.m. on the Eurostat website.