Inflation rises steeply in July

The annual pace of inflation jumped to 2.5% in July from 1.8% in June, independent statistics agency ELSTAT announced Thursday.

EU statistics agency Eurostat had already warned the public, when it published its own Harmoniozed Index of Consumer Prices last week. Still, the rise was steep and interrupted a nine-month drop in inflation, from 9.1% in October 2022 to 1.8% in June, due to the steep decline in electricity and natural gas prices, down 16.2% and 68.9% year-on-year, respectively.

Inflation is being boosted by food prices, running at a 12.3% annual pace in July, with some items having risen as much as 28% since the beginning of the year. In July alone, some foodstuffs rose as much as 6.67%. It's not just food: Health services, dining and other catering services, whose prices had been fairly constant in 2022, have risen 7.8% and 6.2%, respectively.

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