Eurozone inflation highest since 2008 as energy prices soar

Brussels, Oct 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) Eurozone inflation has surged to a record rate this month, reaching the highest level since 2008, as energy prices continued to soar, Eurostat, the European Union's (EU) statistics agency, said.

Across the EU, the inflation rate rose to 4.1 per cent in the year through October, up from September's equivalent rate of 3.4 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 4.1 per cent increase is more than double the European Central Bank's (ECB) target as energy prices jumped 23.5 per cent in September, the agency said.

Inflation in the 19 eurozone countries has been spiking in recent months as the global economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic.

The most dramatic effect on prices was the soaring cost of energy, which has pushed up utility bills and threatened economic recovery.

The European Commission launched a toolbox earlier this month to enable the EU member states to help affected consumers and businesses.

In a separate release, Eurostat said growth in the countries using the euro rose by 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of this year, slightly above the previous quarter's 2.1 percent.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted gross domestic product increased by 3.7 per cent in the eurozone and by 3.9 per cent in the EU in the third quarter of 2021.

Among the member states for which data are available for the third quarter of 2021, Austria recorded the largest quarter-on-quarter increase of 3.3 per cent, followed by France (3.0 per cent) and Portugal (2.9 per cent).

Source: IANS