Preliminary data published by Eurostat showed that the eurozone annual inflation remained unchanged in April, while economists had expected a slight decline. Meanwhile, core inflation accelerated sharply after reaching its lowest level since January 2022 in March. Last week, many ECB policymakers warned that the picture for inflation was less clear in the medium-term, with factors such as potential retaliation countermeasures from Europe against U.S. tariffs and fiscal shifts like Germany's major infrastructure package coming into play.
According to the report, the consumer price index rose by 2.2% per year after a similar increase in March. Consensus estimates suggested an increase of 2.1% per annum. Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.6%, the same as in March. This was the strongest growth since April 2024. Consensus estimates suggested an increase of 0.4%.
Eurostat reported that the core consumer price index - excluding energy, food, alcohol & tobacco - rose by 2.7% per year (the highest value since January) after increasing by 2.4% per year in March. Forecasts suggested an increase of 2.5% per annum.
The data showed that the annual growth of the overall consumer price index was due to an increase in the cost of services (+3.9% vs. +3.5% in March), food, alcohol & tobacco (+3.0% vs. +2.9%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.6% vs. +0.6%). Energy prices fell 3.5% after falling by 1% in March.