Consumer prices in Greece rose 1.8% in September from the previous month, one of the sharpest increases in the euro area, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat. On an annual basis, inflation accelerated to 5.1% from 3.7% in August, putting Greece among the countries with the highest rates in the currency bloc.
The increase was part of a wider resurgence in inflation across the euro area. Prices rose 3.8% from a year earlier in September, up from 3.2% in August.
Energy was by far the biggest source of price pressure. Energy prices across the euro area were estimated to have risen 18.8% from a year earlier, accelerating from 14.3% in August. Services inflation edged up to 3.2% from 3%, while inflation in food, alcohol and tobacco rose to 1.4% from 1.1%. Prices for nonenergy industrial goods increased 1.1%, slightly less than the 1.2% recorded in August. The underlying measures were considerably more subdued. Inflation excluding energy stood at 2.3%, while the measure excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco was 2.5%.
Several of the euro area’s largest economies also saw inflation accelerate. Germany’s annual rate rose to 3.3% from 2.9%, France’s to 3.4% from 2.6%, Italy’s to 4.1% from 3.2% and Spain’s to 5% from 4.6%.
Among euro area countries included in the preliminary figures, Lithuania recorded the highest annual rate at 6.1%, followed by Bulgaria at 5.6%. Cyprus and Luxembourg were both at 5.2%, just above Greece.
The figures are preliminary. Eurostat is scheduled to publish the complete September inflation data on Oct. 16.
