Inflation Up To 2% in the EU; Prices Rise Significantly In Visegrad Countries
The inflation rate in the European Union rose to 2% in April, up from 1.7% in March. According to Eurostat, price increases are strongly evident in the Visegrad Group (V4), which includes the Czech Republic. Photo Credit: Freepik / Illustrtaive Photo.
Czech Rep., May 20 (BD) – According to Eurostat, the inflation rate in the European Union rose to 2% in April, up from 1.7% in March. In the Eurozone (countries which use the Euro), inflation rose to 1.6% (from 1.3% in March).
Price increases are particularly evident in the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4); Hungary had the highest inflation in the EU (5.2%), followed by Poland (5.1%). In the Czech Republic, inflation rose to 3.1%, while in Slovakia, the only V4 country to use the Euro, it rose to 1.7% in April. Compared with March, annual inflation fell in only three member states: Greece (-1.1%), Portugal (-0.1%) and Malta (0.1%).
“In April, energy (+0.96%), services (+0.37%), food, alcohol, and tobacco (+0.16%) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.16%) contributed the most to annual inflation in the euro area (+0.12%)”, stated Eurostat.
The European Central Bank has previously warned that inflation could exceed its target, which it has set just below two percent, by the end of the year. Following a temporary rise in prices, the ECB expects growth to moderate and to remain below the target in the coming years.
A year ago, when Europe and the rest of the world were already facing the spread of coronavirus infection, inflation rates in the Eurozone were 0.3% and in the EU as a whole at 0.7%.
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