By Andrea Hargraves 
Year-on-year inflation is expected to reach 5% in the eurozone in December, according to a flash estimate released Friday by the European Union’s statistical office Eurostat.
In November, Inflation in the eurozone has risen again., standing at 4.9%. The region’s consumer price index reached a new all-time high that month since the single currency was created, after rising 0.8 percentage points from the previous month.
The inflation value estimated by Eurostat for December is higher than the values expected by economists. According to Bloomberg, a result of 4.8% was expected in December, just down from 4.9% the previous month. According to Eurostat, the largest contribution to the price hike in European euro countries in December came from energy, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco. “Energy is expected to see the largest annual increase in its rate in December,” Eurostat notes, pointing to an estimated rise of 26%. The food, alcohol and tobacco group was 3.2%, compared to 2.2% in the previous month.
Now, with this estimate of 5% in December, this is a new record, adding to doubts whether the rise in inflation will really be temporary, as indicated in the ECB leaders’ speech so far. However, in late December, in the ads Quoted from ReutersLuis de Guindos, Vice President of the European Central Bank, already recognized that inflation was “more steady, let’s say, not as temporary as we had expected”.
Last month, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, already warned that inflation could remain high in the short term before stabilizing for the whole year, possibly below the 2% target.
Estonia and Lithuania with the highest inflation values
Eurostat data contains the usual analysis of differences between eurozone members. December estimates show countries like Estonia and Lithuania have the highest annual inflation rates, at 12% and 10.7%, respectively.
On the other hand, the lowest rates are seen in Malta (2.6%), Portugal (2.8%) and Finland (3.2%).