2024.01.1707:40:00UTC+00Austria Inflation Unrevised At 5.6%

Austria's consumer price inflation rose somewhat to the highest level in three months, as initially estimated in December, the latest data from Statistics Austria showed on Wednesday.

The consumer price index climbed 5.6 percent year-over-year in December, faster than the 5.3 percent increase in November. That was in line with the flash data published on January 5.

The upward trend in December was largely driven by a 7.6 percent surge in utility costs, compared to 5.5 percent in November. The acceleration in utility costs was largely attributed to higher electricity charges.

Costs were 9.5 percent more expensive in the division of restaurants and hotels in December compared to last year, and transport charges rebounded by 0.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices moved up 0.4 percent in December, as estimated.

The EU measure of the harmonised index of consumer prices, or HICP, rose at a faster rate of 5.7 percent annually in December versus a 4.9 percent increase a month ago, confirming the flash report.

The average annual inflation rate of consumer prices was 7.8 percent in 2023, down from 8.6 percent in 2022. Nonetheless, this was still almost four times higher than the ECB target of 2.0 percent.