Inflation rises in March from the prior month

Latest reading: Harmonized consumer prices soared to 2.5% on a year-on-year basis in March, following a 1.9% rise in the previous month, falling short of market expectations but overshooting the ECB’s 2.0% target. Relative to the prior month's data, there were higher price pressures for energy prices (4.9% in annual terms vs -3.1% in February). In contrast, price pressures reduced for food, alcohol and tobacco in February (+2.4% vs +2.5% in February), services (+3.2% vs +3.4% in February) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.5% vs +0.7% in February). Meanwhile, core consumer prices were down 2.3% on a year-on-year basis in March, following a 2.4% increase in the prior month. Lastly, harmonized consumer prices increased 1.27% in March on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.65% decline in the prior month.

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