Eurozone inflation rose to 4.9 percent, from 4.1 percent in October

Official data showed on Friday that inflation in the eurozone (19 countries) rose to 4.9 percent in November, on an annual basis, from 4.1 percent in the previous month.

The European Statistics Office “Eurostat” said that the highest contribution to the inflation rate came from energy prices, which increased in November by 2.57 on an annual basis, followed by services prices, with an increase of 1.16 percent.

The prices of the group of industrial goods outside the energy sector and the group of food, alcohol, and tobacco increased by 0.64 and 0.49 percent, respectively.

According to the new “Eurostat” data, the annual inflation rate in the whole of the European Union (27 countries) reached 5.2 percent in November 2021, up from 4.4 percent in October.

The European Statistics Office added that inflation increased in 26 of the EU countries and stabilized in one country, the Czech Republic, at 4.8 percent.

The lowest annual rates of inflation were recorded in November in Malta (2.4 percent), Portugal (2.6 percent), and France (3.4 percent), according to “Eurostat”.

The highest rates were recorded in Lithuania (9.3 percent), Estonia (8.6 percent), and Hungary (7.5 percent).

And on Thursday, the European Central Bank decided to reduce a program of support for the economies of the European Union by buying bonds at a rate of 70 billion euros per month, on the way to stopping it completely by March 2022, but it kept a zero interest rate.

The European Central is facing pressure to raise interest rates in the face of accelerating inflationary pressures, but it insists that the current rise in inflation is temporary and will return to decline during 2022.