Annual harmonised inflation fell significantly to 4.4% in January
The annual inflation measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices according to the European harmonized methodology reached the value 4.4% in January 2024, which was 2.2 percentage points lower than in December 2023. The month-on-month HICP inflation reached the value 0.8%.
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 January 2024 the value 10.1%, a year ago - in January 2023 its value was 12.7%. 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 January 2024, the harmonized indices of consumer prices increased by 0.8% month-on-month in total. The month-on-month increase in the price level was mostly affected by the increase in prices in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages division (the overall positive contribution of +0.34 percentage point to the month-on-month inflation was mainly due to the price increases in fruit, vegetables, sugar and confectionery, oils and fats). The second and third most significant influence on the increase of prices in January compared to the price level in December had the divisions: Restaurants and hotels (+0.10 p.p.) and Transport (+0.09 p.p.). On the contrary, the decrease of prices and the highest negative contribution to the month-on-month inflation was reached in the Clothing and footwear division (the negative contribution of the entire division amounted to -0.06 p.p.).
The resulting summary of harmonized inflation for January 2024 within Europe will be displayed on February 22, 2024 from 11 a.m. on the Eurostat website.