Economy

Inflation hits CEE harder than rest of EU

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The EU annual inflation rate rose from 8.8% to 9.6% in June, the bloc’s official statistics agency Eurostat reports. The inflation rate in June last year was 2.2%.

Inflation was highest in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and in the three Baltic countries in particular, with the top three countries by annual inflation in June; Estonia (22%), Lithuania (20.5%) and Latvia (19.2%).

Annual inflation rates (%) in June 2022 / Source: Eurostat

The only country in CEE with inflation below the EU average of 9.6% was Austria, where prices rose 8.7% last month.

All of the other CEE countries have been hit by double-digit inflation. Slovenia had rising prices of 10.8% in June, to Croatia’s 12.1%, while Hungary and Slovakia experienced inflation of 12.6%. Prices in Romania rose 13%, Poland by 14.2%, Bulgaria by 14.8% and Czechia by 16.6%.

Inflation rates of EU member states, June 2022 / Source: Eurostat

The highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate in June came from energy (+4.19 percentage points, or pp), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (+1.88 pp), services (+1.42 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+1.15 pp), Eurostat reported.

The figures are worrying for the European Central Bank, coming as the euro has fallen to its lowest levels against the US dollar in 20 years. This has further weakened the purchasing power and worsened the inflationary impact on Eurozone consumers in CEE in Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Dan Nolan

Recent Posts

Single market is not single, and it’s costing us all

The EU’s internal market is still falling short of its founding promise. Despite decades of…

3 days ago

Foot-and-mouth sees culls, CEE border closures

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has prompted mass animal culls and tightened border controls…

1 week ago

Trump tariffs split EU as Hungary seeks exemption

Hungary has broken ranks with the EU in response to the US's new tariffs policy,…

1 week ago

CEE leaders weigh in on security, expansion, energy at Antalya forum

Attendees from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) nations including Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia,…

1 week ago

CEE leads EU raw materials drive as EU selects strategic mining projects

The European Commission (EC) has chosen 47 strategic projects across the EU to reduce critical…

1 week ago

Vucic names academic as PM candidate, as demonstrators take protest to Strasbourg

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic nominated political newcomer Duro Macut, a 62-year-old endocrinologist and university professor,…

2 weeks ago