Euro Area Inflation Drops to 1.7% in September

In September 2024, the annual inflation rate in the euro area dropped to 1.7%, a decline from 2.2% in August and significantly lower than the 4.3% recorded in September 2023, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.

In September 2024, the annual inflation rate in the euro area dropped to 1.7%, a decline from 2.2% in August and significantly lower than the 4.3% recorded in September 2023, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. Similarly, the annual inflation rate in the broader European Union fell to 2.1%, down from 2.4% in the previous month, and sharply lower compared to the 4.9% rate seen a year earlier.

Among member states, the lowest annual inflation rates were observed in Ireland (0.0%), Lithuania (0.4%), and both Slovenia and Italy (0.7%). On the other hand, Romania recorded the highest inflation at 4.8%, followed by Belgium at 4.3% and Poland at 4.2%. Between August and September 2024, inflation decreased in twenty EU member states, remained unchanged in two, and increased in five.

For the euro area, services were the primary contributor to the annual inflation rate, adding +1.76 percentage points. Food, alcohol, and tobacco followed, contributing +0.47 percentage points, while non-energy industrial goods added +0.12 percentage points. Energy, on the other hand, had a negative impact, subtracting -0.60 percentage points from the overall inflation rate.