Brussels, July 2 Inflation in the eurozone surged to a fresh record high, with consumer prices pumping 8.6 per cent in June from a year earlier, according to figures released on Friday by Eurostat.
The European Union's statistics agency said the increase in consumer prices in the 19 countries that use the euro currency had increased further from the previous record of 8.1 per cent logged in May. Inflation is at its highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997.
The jump was driven by soaring food and energy costs as Russia's conflict with Ukraine and threats on gas supplies continue to push bills through the roof, Xinhua news agency reported.
Nearly half of the 19 eurozone countries have reached double-digit inflation, the data shows. While inflation in Germany and the Netherlands dipped slightly in June, Spain set a record, hitting double digits. Estonia is expected to register the highest inflation rate with 22 per cent, followed by Lithuania at 20.5 per cent.
A breakdown of the main components of inflation shows that energy prices rocketed 41.9 per cent compared with 39.1 per cent in May while prices for food, alcohol and tobacco were up 8.9 per cent, up from 7.5 per cent in May.
ING Bank's senior eurozone economist, Bert Colijn, wrote in a blogpost that the "ugly inflation reading" adds pressure on the European Central Bank to "act quickly".
"At this point, the inflation picture is starting to muddy a bit. Domestic support packages are important drivers of diverging inflation paths at this point... The big question for the second half of the year is when peak inflation will be reached," he added.
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