Eurozone annual inflation at 2.0%, prices in service sector rose most: Eurostat

Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.0 per cent in December 2025, down from 2.1 per cent in November according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Services had the highest annual rate in December (3.4 per cent), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco. On the contrary, energy prices went down by almost 2 per cent annually.

Annual consumer price growth in the eurozone slowed to 2.0 percent in December 2025 according to Eurostat flash estimate. Inflation was thus in line with the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target. However, there are considerable differences among individual euro area members.

Services as potential troublemaker

Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services show the highest annual rate in December (3.4 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in November). Next come food, alcohol & tobacco products (2.6 per cent), and non-energy industrial goods (0.4 per cent). Of the food products, unprocessed food shows the highest inflation rate (4.2 per cent).

Energy prices kept going down with December 2025 annual inflation at -1.9 per cent. – Eurostat report

Energy prices kept going down with December 2025 annual inflation at -1.9 per cent, compared with -0.5 per cent in November 2025. Inflation rates are measured by Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)

From Estonia down to Cyprus

Eurozone is a currency union of 21 EU member states that have adopted the euro as their primary currency. All of the EU’s populous and politically significant countries are eurozone members, with the exception of Poland. The last member state to join the eurozone was Bulgaria (on 1January, 2026).

Eurostat data show that there are significant differences in inflation rates among individual eurozone members. According to December 2025 data, the highest year-on-year inflation rate was recorded in Estonia and Slovakia (4.1 per cent). On the contrary, the lowest rate was in Cyprus, where prices rose only slightly (0.1 per cent). Of the big eurozone countries, inflation was rather low in France (0.7 per cent) and Italy (1.2 per cent).