Inflation in Greece stood at 3.9% in June, according to Eurostat’s preliminary estimate, marking a significant decline from 4.9% in May, but remaining at levels significantly higher than the eurozone average, which fell to 2.8% from 3.2% a month earlier.
Despite this improvement, Greece remains among the countries with the highest inflationary pressures in the eurozone. Only Lithuania (5.5%), Bulgaria (5.3%), Croatia (4.2%), and Cyprus (4.0%) recorded higher annual inflation rates, while Greece follows with 3.9%, as mentioned above.
The gap from the eurozone average remains significant, as Greek inflation is 1.1 percentage points higher than the eurozone’s 2.8%.
At the Eurozone level, the easing of inflation is mainly due to the slowdown in the rise of energy prices, which, while still up by 8.7%, increased at a significantly lower rate than the 10.8% recorded in May. Services remained the second-largest source of inflationary pressure, rising by 3.2%, while prices for food, alcohol, and tobacco slowed to 1.6%.
The picture in the major Eurozone economies was clearly more moderate. Inflation in Germany stood at 2.4%, in France at 2.0%, in Italy at 3.1%, and in Spain at 3.6%, a fact that highlights that Greece continues to face stronger inflationary pressures compared to the core of the Eurozone.