How much consumer prices change over time is a key economic indicator, and affects everything from the cost of living to monetary policy, investment decisions, and wage negotiations.
This data tracker focuses on inflation data from the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), which is compiled by Eurostat and the national statistical institutes. Speficially, it covers the all European Union countries as well as Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. The HICP is calculated using harmonised statistical methods, and thus ensures comparability across countries.
The tracker is divided into three parts, first it covers the latest data published by Eurostat. Second, it explores inflations trends over time, and third, looks more closely at how the main compoents of the HICP are developing (food, energy, services, goods).
Euro Area inflation up to 2.4% in December
The inflation rate in the euro area was 2.4% in December 2024, as per the latest Eurostat estimate. This is the annual rate of change, and thus indicates how much prices have changed compared to December 2023. A rate of 2.4% is a increase from 2.2% rate observed in November 2024.
The euro area consists of those EU Member States that have adopted the euro as their currency: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
For the 27 EU countries (EU27), the inflation rate stood at 2.7% in December, an increase from 2.5% in October. Note that Eurostat only produce flash estimates for euro area countries at the end of each month. The full data release for EU27 countries is published around the middle of the following month.
Inflation Trends Over Time
The chart below shows how the inflation rate has developed over the past five years in all EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway and Switerland. These are harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP), which means the measure is comparable across countries. The EU27-average marked as a grey line in each country chart.
The table below takes a closer look at the inflation rates over the past 12 months for all EU countries as well as for Iceland, Norway and Switerland. Note that Eurostat flash estimates for euro area countries will be visible in the table when they are available.
Inflation by main components
Inflation can be understood both as an overall rate and by examining its main components. There are four main components that contribute to the overall index: services, food, energy and non-energy industrial goods.
The latest data for the euro area countries, shows that services had the highest inflation, standing at 4.0% in December 2024, followed by food inflation at 2.7%, non-energy industrial goods at 0.5% while energy prices stood at 0.1%.
The tables provides a further breakdown of the four main components across all EU countries as well as Iceland, Norway and Switerland.
