Inflation in the euro area rose to 2.2% in September, up from 2.0% in August and the highest level since April, new flash estimate data showed on Wednesday.
According to statistics body Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, services inflation came in at 3.2%, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco where prices rose by 3.0%.
Goods prices rose by 0.8%, while energy was 0.4% cheaper than a year ago.
The reading was in line with economist expectations. On a month-on-month basis, prices edged up 0.1%, mirroring August’s figure.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, held steady at 2.3% for the fifth month running, offering reassurance that underlying price pressures are not gaining momentum, even as headline figures rise.
Among inflation’s key drivers, services led the pack with a 3.2% annual increase, slightly up from 3.1% in August.
Although today’s figures means inflation currently now sits above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) forecast of 2%, it is still lower than in the UK where inflation was 3.8% in August.
Estonia posted the highest inflation rate at 5.2%, followed by Croatia and Slovakia at 4.6% each. At the other end of the spectrum, Cyprus recorded no annual change, and France saw a mild increase of 1.1%.
Meanwhile, Italy and Portugal led with price increases of 1.3% and 1.0% respectively, suggesting some localised acceleration.
It comes as the ECB kept interest rates unchanged at its September meeting, maintaining the deposit facility at 2%.
Its projections showed inflation is expected to average 2.1% in 2025, easing to 1.7% in 2026, before nudging back up to 1.9% in 2027. Core inflation is seen gradually declining over the same horizon.
Diego Iscaro, head of European economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: