Eurozone producer prices jump by most in two years
Updated : 10:57
Wholesale price inflation in the eurozone jumped more than expected in November to its highest level in more than two years, as energy costs surged.
According to figures from Eurostat on Wednesday, the producer price index for the single-currency region increased at an monthly rate of 1.6% following a 0.4% increase in October.
This was ahead of the 1.5% rate expected by economists and the highest monthly growth seen since September 2022.
However, when compared with November 2023, wholesale prices were down 1.2%, following a 3.3% year-on-year decline in October.
Over the month, prices for capital goods and non-durable consumer goods remained stable, and declined for intermediate goods (-0.1%) and durable consumer goods (-0.2%); but energy prices jumped 5.4% following just a 1.6% increase the month before.
The highest monthly increases in industrial producer prices were seen in Ireland (+4.5%) and France (+3.2%), while the largest decreases were in Estonia and Cyprus (both -1.4%), Slovakia (-0.5%) and Luxembourg (-0.4%).