Prices — Euro area
EU Inflation Rate
Euro area inflation (HICP, YoY)
—- Current
- 1.9%
- Previous month
- —
- ECB target
- 2.0%
- Last updated
- Dec 2025
Source: ECB Data Portal (HICP, euro area, monthly index)
Context
What is driving EU inflation?
Eurostat groups the HICP into twelve categories. Headline movements over the last few years have largely come from energy (electricity, gas, motor fuels), food, alcohol and tobacco, and services — while non-energy industrial goods tend to drag in the opposite direction.
Energy is the most volatile component and has been the largest single contributor to both the 2022–2023 spike and the subsequent disinflation. Services inflation has been stickier and is the component the European Central Bank watches most closely when assessing whether headline inflation is on a durable path back to the 2% target.
Member-state inflation rates can diverge meaningfully from the euro-area aggregate. The headline number on this page is the euro-area total, weighted by each country’s household final monetary consumption expenditure.
Trend
Historical trend
Full-history monthly euro area HICP year-over-year change. The ECB introduced its 2% symmetric inflation target in July 2021; before that the target was “below, but close to, 2%”.
Source: ECB Data Portal (HICP, euro area, monthly index)
Source
Source
Data on this page is the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area (changing composition), retrieved from the European Central Bank’s Data Portal at series ICP.M.U2.N.000000.4.INX. Year-over-year inflation is computed as the percentage change versus the same month one year earlier.
The underlying index is compiled and published by Eurostat. Eurostat releases a flash HICP estimate at the end of each month and final values in the middle of the following month. This page refetches the latest data each weekday.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the current EU inflation rate?
The current euro area annual inflation rate, measured by Eurostat’s Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), is shown in the stat panel at the top of this page. The chart on this page tracks monthly readings over the last five years.
How often is EU inflation data updated?
Eurostat publishes a flash HICP estimate around the end of each month and final values in the middle of the following month. Econstats.eu refetches the latest data each weekday, so this page reflects new releases within one business day.
Is EU inflation above the ECB target?
The European Central Bank targets 2% annual inflation over the medium term. Compare the latest reading shown in the stat panel to the 2.0% target row to see whether the euro area is above, below, or at target.
Related
Related charts
See the full set of euro area indicators — unemployment, ECB policy rate, Euribor, EUR foreign exchange rates, GDP, and goods trade balance — on the Econstats.eu home page.