Inflation in the EU
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.
The ranking
Annual inflation rate, %
September 2026Food
For food and non-alcoholic drinks, the gap was wider. It ranged from −6.3% in Sweden to 4.0% in Cyprus. The gap was 10.3 percentage points.
Annual inflation rate: food and drinks and all items, %
September 2026(%)
| 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 |
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 1 November 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Eurostat metadata · Eurostat methodology
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_ARelated stories
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