Eurozone inflation accelerated, as initially estimated to a two-year high in April, driven by higher energy prices, final data from Eurostat showed on Wednesday.
Inflation rose to 1.6 percent in April from 1.3 percent in March. The annual rate came in line with the flash estimate published on April 30. This was the highest rate since April 2019, when inflation was 1.7 percent.
On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices advanced 0.6 percent in April, as estimated.
Meanwhile, core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, eased to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent in the previous month. This was below the flash estimate of 0.8 percent.
Among components of HICP, food, alcohol and tobacco prices grew at a slower pace of 0.6 percent and the growth in services cost eased to 0.9 percent from 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, energy price inflation surged to 10.4 percent from 4.3 percent and non-energy industrial goods prices rose 0.4 percent, following a 0.3 percent increase.
While euro-zone inflation is likely to keep rising this year, it is unlikely to reach the heights seen in the US, Jack Allen-Reynolds, an economist at Capital Economics, said. Headline inflation will average about 2.5 percent in the second half of 2021 before dropping back next year.
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