Harmonised index of consumer prices peaks at 7.3% in December 2022

In December 2022, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 7.3 %, up from 7.2 % in November 2022

SHARE

In December 2022, the annual rate of inflation as measured by the HICP was 7.3 %, up from 7.2 % in November 2022. The 12-month moving average rate for December stood at 6.1 %. The largest upward impact on annual inflation was measured in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+2.41 percentage points).

The HICP measures monthly price changes in the cost of purchasing a representative basket of consumer goods and services. The HICP  is calculated according to rules specified in a series of  European Union (EU) regulations that were developed by Eurostat in conjunction with the EU Member States. The HICP is used to compare inflation rates across the EU. A closely related measure of price movements is the Retail Price Index (RPI).

Each monthly HICP news release includes three different measures of inflation:

  • The annual inflation rate measures average price changes between the reference month and the same month of the previous year. Although responsive to recent changes in price levels, this measure can be influenced by one-off effects in either month.
  • The monthly inflation rate compares price changes between the reference month and the previous month. This measure can be highly influenced by seasonal effects.
  • The 12-month moving average rate overcomes the volatility of the above two rates by comparing the average of the latest  12 indices to the average of the previous 12 indices.  This measure is less sensitive to temporary changes in prices.

The highest annual inflation rates in December 2022 were recorded in Food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.5 %) and Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (10.6 %). On the other hand, the lowest annual inflation rates were registered in Alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.3 %) and Communication (2.4 %).

In December 2022, the largest upward impact on annual inflation was registered in the Food and non-alcoholic beverages Index (+2.41 percentage points), largely due to higher prices of meat. The second and third largest impacts were measured in the  Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels  Index (+1.07  percentage points) and the restaurants and hotels Index (+0.88 percentage points), mainly on account of higher prices of house maintenance services and restaurant services, respectively. On the other hand, no downward impacts on annual inflation were registered for the month of December.

More in Business