The inflation rate in the eurozone has fallen surprisingly in September. As the EU statistics agency Eurostat said in a first estimate, consumer prices rose only 0.9 percent year-on-year. This is the lowest level since November 2016. In August of this year, the inflation rate was still 1.0 percent.
The reason for the currently falling inflation rate was, above all, significantly lower energy prices. According to Eurostat, consumers in this sector paid 1.8% less than a year earlier. The strongest price drivers were food, alcohol and tobacco. They became more expensive for consumers by 1.6 percent. Prices for services increased by 1.5 percent and industrial goods by 0.3 percent.
Analysts had expected an unchanged inflation rate of 1.0 percent on average. In the eurozone, inflation is thus far away from the target of the European Central Bank (ECB), which is aiming for inflation in the medium term of just under two percent.
The ECB had once again eased its already generous monetary policy significantly. In addition to the weaker economy, she cited as reason the long-weak price increase in the currency area. However, many economists doubt that the additional easing will bring inflation closer to the central bank's target.