Price pressure eases

4.3 percent: Inflation fell further in February

Price pressure has eased recently, particularly for food.

(Bild: © littlewolf1989 - stock.adobe.com)

Inflation in Austria has slowed further. In February, the inflation rate was 4.3 percent - the lowest value since December 2021. The flash estimate from the beginning of the month was thus confirmed.

"The decline from 4.6 percent in January to 4.3 percent in February is mainly due to the fact that price pressure on food has eased significantly, and prices in restaurants have also not risen quite as much as recently," said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas on Monday.

Fuel prices rise slightly again
Fuel prices, on the other hand, which had fallen noticeably year-on-year in the previous months, remained virtually unchanged, Thomas continued. Compared to January, the price level here rose by 0.7 percent. The harmonized inflation rate (HICP) for Austria, calculated for eurozone comparisons, was 4.2 percent in February.

Baskets of goods still above average
The price level of the micro basket of goods, which reflects daily shopping and mainly includes food, but also daily newspapers or coffee in the coffee house, rose by 5.4% year-on-year in February (January: plus 6.5%). The mini basket of goods, which represents a weekly purchase and includes fuel as well as food and services, rose by 4.9 percent (January: 5.0 percent).

Inflation also continued to fall across the EU in February. Compared to the same month a year ago, prices rose by 2.8 percent, according to the European statistics authority Eurostat on Monday. This year in January, the annual inflation rate had still reached 3.1 percent.

Austria has the fourth highest inflation rate in the EU
The differences between the EU states are great, Austria is still clearly above the EU average. According to Eurostat, Romania has the highest annual inflation rate at 7.1 percent, followed by Croatia (up 4.8 percent) and Estonia (up 4.4 percent). Austria ranks fourth with 4.2 percent.

Denmark and Latvia had the lowest inflation rate in February with 0.6 percent each, followed by Italy with 0.8 percent.