Annual harmonized inflation in August reached a single-digit value of 9.6%

Annual inflation measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices according to the European harmonized methodology reached a single-digit value of 9.6% in August 2023 for the first time in 16 months. The month-on-month HICP inflation reached the value of 0.1%.

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 August 2023 the value 13.4%, in July 2023 it was 13.7%. 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 August 2023, the harmonized consumer price indices increased by 0.1% month-on-month in total. The month-on-month increase in the price level was most affected by the increase in prices in the Transport division (the total positive contribution of  0.31 percentage points to month-on-month inflation was most affected by the increase of fuels prices). The second most significant influence on the increase of prices in August compared to the price level in July had the Restaurants and food division (0.07 p.p.). On the contrary, decrease of prices and the highest negative contribution to the month-on-month inflation was recorded in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages division (the negative contribution of the entire division amounted to -0.28 p.p. - mainly caused by the decrease of food prices).

The final summary of harmonized inflation for July 2023 within Europe will be published on September 19, 2023 from 11 a.m. on the Eurostat website (PDF – 225 kB).