Romania posts highest inflation rate in the EU for 7th month in a row in August

Romania maintained in August its position as the country with the highest annual inflation rate among the European Union member states for the seventh month in a row, of 4.7 percent measured by Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP), Eurostat data showed on Monday.

“The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.7%), Bulgaria (3.7%), Estonia (3.5%) and Hungary (3.4%). Compared with July 2018, annual inflation fell in twelve Member States, remained stable in five and rose in ten,” EU’s statistical office said.

Inflation rates in the EU, August 2018. Data source: Eurostat

The HICP index used by Eurostat measure price with a unified basket of consumer products and services for the 28 member states.

But the Romanian basket of consumer products and services, which includes a higher percentage of food products, shows a different picture.

According to National Institute of Statistics (INS) data, the annual inflation rate, measuring the evolution of consumption prices in the last year, rose to 5.1 percent in August, approaching the 5-year high level registered in May and June, of 5.4 percent.

Compared with August 2017, the prices of food products rose by 4.15 percent on average, while non-food products increased by 6.8 percent. The prices of services went up by 2.6 percent.

Compared with July, consumer prices in Romania increased by 0.3 percent, as food prices declined by 0.2 percent, while non-food products’ prices went up by 0.7 percent, and services’ prices rose by 0.1 percent.