March 18, 2023 - Inflation in the Eurozone weakened slightly in February, the European Statistical Office confirmed on Friday, and price increases saw a slight slowdown in the European Union as well. The Croatia inflation rate for February, though, still placed the country among the Eurozone countries with a double-digit rate.
As Index writes, Eurostat confirmed the estimate of 8.5 percent growth in consumer prices in the eurozone in February, expressed by the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP). In January, they increased by 8.6 percent.
Rising food and energy prices have been the main drivers of price growth
At the monthly level, consumer prices increased by 0.8 percent compared to January, when there was a decrease of 0.2 percent, Eurostat confirmed.
The main driver of price growth was the increase in food and energy prices. At the EU level, the harmonized index of consumer prices showed their growth in February of 9.9 percent compared to the same month last year, after a 10 percent increase in January.
On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.8 percent in February, after a 0.2 percent increase in the first month of this year.
Croatia in the group of Eurozone countries with a double-digit inflation rate in February
Among EU countries that are not members of the eurozone, prices in Hungary increased by far the most on an annual basis, by 25.8 percent compared to last year's February. In Poland, the largest economy in that group, the prices increased by 17.2 percent according to preliminary data.
Among the eurozone members, the highest inflation rates were recorded by the Baltic countries, so in Latvia it was 20.1 percent, and in Estonia and Lithuania 17.8 and 17.2 percent, respectively.
Croatia is also in the group of eurozone countries with a double-digit inflation rate in February, at 11.7 percent, as indicated by the harmonized consumer price index.
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