Annual inflation in the EU countries

Name: Annual inflation in the EU countries, September 2026
Creator: Civitascope
Published: 2026-11-01T15:33:24+00:00
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Topic: Economy and prices

Prices rose fastest in Romania, by 6.5% in a year, against 1.0% in Sweden.

In September 2026, the EU's annual inflation rate was 3.8%, measured against the same month a year earlier.

Figures for:: September 2026.
Covers:: one month.
New data:: every month.
Dataset updated:: 16 October 2026.

Published 1 November 2026, updated 6 November 2026

27 / 27 EU countries ranked

The ranking

In September 2026, the annual inflation rate was lowest in Sweden, at 1.0%, and highest in Romania, at 6.5%.

Annual inflation rate, %

September 2026

02468%

EU, 3.8 %

Rank 1: Romania, 6.5 %

Rank 2: Lithuania, 6.1 %

Rank 3: Bulgaria, 5.6 %

Rank 4: Cyprus, 5.2 %

Rank 4: Luxembourg, 5.2 %

Rank 6: Greece, 5.1 %

Rank 7: Spain, 5.0 %

Rank 8: Belgium, 4.5 %

Rank 9: Croatia, 4.3 %

Rank 10: Italy, 4.2 %

Rank 11: Poland, 4.0 %

Rank 12: Ireland, 3.8 %

Rank 13: Slovenia, 3.7 %

Rank 14: Austria, 3.6 %

Rank 14: Portugal, 3.6 %

Rank 16: France, 3.4 %

Rank 17: Germany, 3.3 %

Rank 18: Estonia, 3.1 %

Rank 19: Latvia, 3.0 %

Rank 19: Netherlands, 3.0 %

Rank 19: Slovakia, 3.0 %

Rank 22: Finland, 2.7 %

Rank 23: Malta, 2.4 %

Rank 24: Czechia, 2.2 %

Rank 25: Denmark, 2.1 %

Rank 25: Hungary, 2.1 %

Rank 27: Sweden, 1.0 %

How to read: bars start at zero. Every country with a value is shown, ranked from highest to lowest.Source: Eurostat, Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) - ECOICOP ver.2 - indices and rates of change, monthly data (prc_hicp_minr).Chart: Civitascope (civitascope.eu) · CC BY 4.0 · Download image · Download data ·

Food

For food and non-alcoholic drinks, the spread across countries was much wider. Sweden was again the lowest, at −6.3%, and Cyprus the highest, at 4.0%. The gap was 10.3 percentage points.

Annual inflation rate: food and drinks and all items, %

September 2026

Food and drinksAll itemsRank food and drinksRank
(%)

%−505

EU, Food and drinks: 0.6 %, All items: 3.8 %,

Rank 1: Romania, Food and drinks: 2.6 %, All items: 6.5 %, Rank food and drinks: 3

Rank 2: Lithuania, Food and drinks: −1.8 %, All items: 6.1 %, Rank food and drinks: 20

Rank 3: Bulgaria, Food and drinks: 1.6 %, All items: 5.6 %, Rank food and drinks: 8

Rank 4: Cyprus, Food and drinks: 4.0 %, All items: 5.2 %, Rank food and drinks: 1

Rank 4: Luxembourg, Food and drinks: 1.5 %, All items: 5.2 %, Rank food and drinks: 9

Rank 6: Greece, Food and drinks: −0.2 %, All items: 5.1 %, Rank food and drinks: 14

Rank 7: Spain, Food and drinks: 2.7 %, All items: 5.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 2

Rank 8: Belgium, Food and drinks: −0.4 %, All items: 4.5 %, Rank food and drinks: 16

Rank 9: Croatia, Food and drinks: −0.5 %, All items: 4.3 %, Rank food and drinks: 17

Rank 10: Italy, Food and drinks: 1.7 %, All items: 4.2 %, Rank food and drinks: 7

Rank 11: Poland, Food and drinks: −0.3 %, All items: 4.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 15

Rank 12: Ireland, Food and drinks: 0.3 %, All items: 3.8 %, Rank food and drinks: 12

Rank 13: Slovenia, Food and drinks: −0.5 %, All items: 3.7 %, Rank food and drinks: 17

Rank 14: Austria, Food and drinks: 0.3 %, All items: 3.6 %, Rank food and drinks: 12

Rank 14: Portugal, Food and drinks: 2.4 %, All items: 3.6 %, Rank food and drinks: 5

Rank 16: France, Food and drinks: 1.5 %, All items: 3.4 %, Rank food and drinks: 9

Rank 17: Germany, Food and drinks: 0.4 %, All items: 3.3 %, Rank food and drinks: 11

Rank 18: Estonia, Food and drinks: −1.2 %, All items: 3.1 %, Rank food and drinks: 19

Rank 19: Latvia, Food and drinks: −4.8 %, All items: 3.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 26

Rank 19: Netherlands, Food and drinks: −1.8 %, All items: 3.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 20

Rank 19: Slovakia, Food and drinks: −3.2 %, All items: 3.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 23

Rank 22: Finland, Food and drinks: 2.0 %, All items: 2.7 %, Rank food and drinks: 6

Rank 23: Malta, All items: 2.4 %, Food and drinks: 2.5 %, Rank food and drinks: 4

Rank 24: Czechia, Food and drinks: −3.8 %, All items: 2.2 %, Rank food and drinks: 24

Rank 25: Denmark, Food and drinks: −2.1 %, All items: 2.1 %, Rank food and drinks: 22

Rank 25: Hungary, Food and drinks: −4.6 %, All items: 2.1 %, Rank food and drinks: 25

Rank 27: Sweden, Food and drinks: −6.3 %, All items: 1.0 %, Rank food and drinks: 27

How to read: the filled dot is all items, the outlined dot food and drinks, each with its value beside it. The column on the right is the rank food and drinks. Countries are ranked by the filled dot.Source: Eurostat, Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) - ECOICOP ver.2 - indices and rates of change, monthly data (prc_hicp_minr).Chart: Civitascope (civitascope.eu) · CC BY 4.0 · Download image · Download data ·

	All items	Food and drinks
Lowest	1.0%Sweden	−6.3%Sweden
Highest	6.5%Romania	4.0%Cyprus
Highest − lowest	5.5 pp	10.3 pp

All items

Lowest: 1.0% (Sweden)Highest: 6.5% (Romania)Highest − lowest: 5.5 pp

Food and drinks

Lowest: −6.3% (Sweden)Highest: 4.0% (Cyprus)Highest − lowest: 10.3 pp

About the data

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) measures the change over time of the prices of goods and services bought by households. Its default measure is the annual rate, the change compared with the same month a year earlier.

Eurostat: “The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) gives comparable measures of inflation for the countries and country groups for which it is produced. It is a macroeconomic indicator that measures the change over time of the prices of consumer goods and services acquired by households.” (source)

Consumer price indices compiled by the national statistical institutes under harmonised EU rules. Eurostat computes the EU, euro area and EEA aggregates.

How to read these numbers

How it is measured

The rate shows how fast prices rose, not how high they are. A country with a low rate can still have high prices.

Since January 2026 the HICP uses a new classification (ECOICOP version 2), applied back to 1996, and the base year 2025 = 100. The all-items index and its rates did not change (rounding aside). Product groups and aggregates such as services or non-energy industrial goods changed in composition, and their rates can differ from those published before 2026, in some months markedly.

The HICP can differ from the consumer price index a country publishes itself, because their methods differ.

Sources and data

Eurostat, Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) - ECOICOP ver.2 - indices and rates of change, monthly data (prc_hicp_minr). Data updated 16 October 2026, retrieved 3 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

Eurostat metadata · Eurostat methodology

The exact Eurostat API query

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/prc_hicp_minr?format=JSON&lang=en&coicop18=TOTAL&freq=M&geo=AT&geo=BE&geo=BG&geo=CY&geo=CZ&geo=DE&geo=DK&geo=EE&geo=EL&geo=ES&geo=EU27_2020&geo=FI&geo=FR&geo=HR&geo=HU&geo=IE&geo=IT&geo=LT&geo=LU&geo=LV&geo=MT&geo=NL&geo=PL&geo=PT&geo=RO&geo=SE&geo=SI&geo=SK&unit=RCH_A

How every number in this story was computed