Annual harmonised inflation continued to decline and reached the value 3.8%

The annual inflation measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices according to the European harmonized methodology reached the value 3,8% in February 2024, which was 0.6 percentage points lower than in January 2024. The month-on-month HICP inflation reached the value 0.6%.

The average annual rate of HICP inflation (comparing change in the average price level for the average of the harmonized consumer price indices for the last 12 months compared to the average of the previous 12 months) reached in February 2024 the value 9.1%, a year ago - in February 2023 its value was 13.3%. The average annual HICP inflation rate is an important indicator of a country’s price stability, its level is also considered as one of the four so-called Maastricht criteria that an EU Member State must meet before adopting the euro.

In February 2024, the harmonized indices of consumer prices increased by 0.6% month-on-month in total. The month-on-month increase in the price level was mostly affected by the increase in prices in the Transport division (the overall positive contribution of +0.22 percentage point to the month-on-month inflation was mainly due to the price increases of fuels and of passenger transport by bus). The second most significant influence on the increase of prices in February compared to the price level in January had the divisions: Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (+0.16 p.p.) – this was mainly caused by the increase in the prices of tobacco products. On the contrary, the decrease of prices and the highest negative contribution to the month-on-month inflation was reached in the Clothing and footwear division (the negative contribution of the entire division amounted to -0.03 p.p.).

The resulting summary of harmonized inflation within Europe for February 2024 can be found on March 18 2024 from 11 a.m. on the Eurostat website.