Inflation in the eurozone continued to accelerate in October 2026, reaching its highest level in three years. The main reason remains a sharp rise in energy prices, which maintains price pressure on the European economies.

According to preliminary Eurostat data released on November 4, consumer prices in the eurozone rose by 4% year-on-year compared with 3.8% in September. This is the highest rate since September 2023. In October last year, inflation was only 2.1%.

The largest contribution to the acceleration came from energy, with prices up 20.8% year-on-year. In September, the increase was 18.9%, while a year earlier energy prices were falling.

Price increases were also observed in other categories of consumer goods and services:

  • services rose by 3.3% compared with 3.2% in September;
  • food, alcohol and tobacco - by 1.6% compared with 1.3%;
  • non-energy industrial goods - by 1.2% compared with 1.1%.

Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, remained at 2.5%. This suggests that the main acceleration of the headline rate is still primarily driven by the energy component.

Among the largest eurozone economies, the situation differs significantly. In Italy, annual inflation accelerated to 5.6%, in Spain it stood at 4.9%, in France - 3.8%. In contrast, in Germany the rate fell from 3.3% to 2.8%.

The acceleration of inflation increases attention to the European Central Bank's future decisions. The current rate is twice the ECB's 2% target, and the prolonged rise in energy prices creates additional risks for price stability.

As the Financial Times reports, the ECB has already raised interest rates twice this year due to inflationary pressure caused by the energy crisis against the backdrop of the war in the Middle East.

Financial markets estimate the probability of another rate hike in December at about 70%. At the same time, economists differ on the regulator's next steps: some expect further monetary tightening, while others believe that stable core inflation may limit the need for new rate hikes.

The released figures are a preliminary estimate. Final data on October inflation are expected to be published by Eurostat on November 18.