Eurozone producer price inflation eased for the fourth consecutive month in December to the lowest level in just over a year, as energy prices continued to rise at a slower rate, data from the statistical office Eurostat showed Friday.
The producer price index registered an annual increase of 24.6 percent after a revised 27.0 percent surge in November. Economists had forecast inflation to ease to 22.5 percent.
However, overall producer price inflation remained high, allowing the European Central Bank to maintain its current aggressive policy tightening.
Excluding energy, producer price inflation came in at 12.3 percent in December, slower than the 13.2 percent in the previous month.
The annual producer price inflation was still driven by the 65.8 percent rise in energy prices. However, the rate of growth eased from 55.4 percent in November.
Prices of non-durable consumer goods grew 15.6 percent and that of intermediate goods by 13.8 percent. Durable consumer goods and capital goods prices increased 9.7 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively.
On a monthly basis, producer prices climbed 1.1 percent in December, reversing a 1.0 percent fall in November. It was the first rise in three months.
Producer prices in the EU27 increased 25.2 percent from last year, following the prior month's 27.4 percent gain. Month-on-month, producer prices moved up 1.2 percent, in contrast to the 0.9 percent drop in November.
In 2022, overall industrial producer prices in the euro area rose 34.4 percent compared to 2021.
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