Eurostat: Hungarian inflation still highest in EU at 25.6 percent

Hungary continues to lead the European Union – but only in terms of inflation. According to Eurostat data, while the EU average inflation rate based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was only 8.3 percent in March, in Hungary it was 25.6 percent.

For the record, the second highest figure was recorded in Latvia at 17.2 percent, which is almost 8 percentage points lower than the Hungarian figure.

Inflation rates in other countries in the region are similar to the Latvian figure: 16.5% in the Czech Republic, 15.2% in Poland and 14.8% in Slovakia. In comparison, inflation in Luxembourg and Spain is only 2.9% and 3.1% respectively, according to Eurostat.

The last time the European institute published data on the inflation rate was at the end of February. Since then, it has fallen both in the EU and in Hungary. It is an important detail, however, that the inflation rate in Hungary is falling more slowly than the EU average:

• while the EU average fell to 8.3% from 10% in January,
• in Hungary it only fell from 26.2% to 25.6%.

In Hungary, the latest data on inflation published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) came out in February: goods and services were on average 25.7% more expensive in January than in the same month of the previous year. The price of groceries rose by 44.0 per cent between January 2022 and January 2023.

However, the Central Statistical Office and Eurostat use different methods of measurement: Eurostat calculates the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices from consumption data provided by national statistical offices. This harmonised index ensures the comparability of inflation indicators across EU Member States. The HICP covers goods and services that form part of the total consumption expenditure of households. It can, however be seen that there is not much of a difference when compared to the data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.