In the third quarter, growth in the euro zone slowed sharply, Eurostat also found on Monday.
Further rise in prices in the euro zone. This Monday, the statistical service of the European Commission indicated in a press release that the annual inflation rate of the countries having adopted the single currency had reached a new record this month. In October, on average, it stood at 10.7%, up sharply from 9.9% a month earlier.
The momentum is notably driven by a rebound in energy prices, which rose again: over one year, inflation for these products reached 41.9%, thehighest annual rate“. Food products also saw their label soar by 13.1% over one year, as did industrial goods excluding energy – 6% – and services – 4.4% over one year.
Very strong disparities remain between European countries. Prices have particularly soared in Eastern European countries that have decided to wean themselves off Russian gas, such as Lithuania or Estonia: in these capitals, the inflation rate over one year has exceeded, since the summer, the 20%, despite a slight lull this month. The record is reached in Estonia, where, over twelve months, the rate reached 22.4%. Conversely, six countries in the euro zone are keeping inflation below 10%: Finland, Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, France, Spain, Greece and Ireland.
Paris is the most spared capital, inflation being estimated at around 7.1% in October.
Slowdown in activity in the third quarter
At the same time, Eurostat noted, in the third quarter, an average growth of 0.2% in the euro zone as well as in the European Union. A much slower pace compared to the 0.8% recorded in the second quarter among countries that have adopted the single currency.
Here again, the balance sheet differs between the European capitals: three countries – Latvia, Austria and Belgium – have seen activity sink in the last three months; Germany, Lithuania and Portugal, on the contrary, experienced an acceleration. Sweden maintained its rate at the same level as in the second quarter and Spain, France and Italy noted a slowdown.
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