BRUSSELS - The results of the inflation estimates in December 2022 place Italy among the countries with the highest price growth rates on an annual basis.
Compared to the prices of a year earlier, inflation in Italy grew by
12.3%
, significantly higher than the 9.2% recorded for the euro area.
Among the countries most affected by the high prices in December, Latvia (20.7), Lithuania (20%), Estonia (17.5%) and Slovakia (15%) stand out, followed by Italy.
Germany recorded a rate of 9.6% while Spain, with 5.6%, brings up the rear.
The percentages of Luxembourg (6.2) and France (6.7) are also low compared to the average.
Data from Croatia, which officially adopted the euro on 1 January 2023, does not appear.
On a monthly basis, however, inflation in the Eurozone
should register a decrease
(-0.3%) due to a contraction in prices which may have affected eleven out of nineteen countries.
Compared to November 2022, prices in Italy grew slightly by 0.2%.
Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to
be the main component driving annual inflation
higher (but down to 25.7%, compared to 34.9% of November).
Followed by the food, alcohol and tobacco component (13.8%, compared to 13.6% in November), non-energy industrial goods (6.4%, compared to 6.1% in November) and services (4.4 %, compared to 4.2% in November).
