In December 2023, the euro area saw a rise in consumer prices across nine of its member states, as reported by the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, on 5 January 2024.

Luxembourg also experienced an increase in inflation, reaching 3.2% compared to 2.1% in the previous month of November. Similarly, neighbouring countries Belgium, France and Germany witnessed a surge in inflation rates, recording figures of 0.5%, 3.8% and 4.1%, respectively.

Eurostat’s further detailed the specific categories contributing to this inflationary trend. Food, alcohol and tobacco were identified as the sectors with the highest annual rate in December, standing at 6.1%, albeit a slight decrease from November’s 6.9%. Services maintained a steady rate of 4.0%, as observed in November. The non-energy industrial goods sector witnessed a minor drop in inflation, registering 2.5% compared to November’s 2.9%.

The energy sector showed a negative inflation rate of -6.7%, an improvement from November’s -11.5%, indicating a less steep annual decrease in prices in this category compared to the previous month. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate for energy products is estimated at -0.7%.