Inflation within the Eurozone hit nearly 5 per cent in November, the highest level recorded since the Euro was introduced as a currency in 1999.
The total level of inflation within the 17 states that use the Euro as currency reached 4.9 per cent in November, the highest yearly level of inflation since records began in 1997, and since the Euro was introduced in January 1999.
The findings were published on Tuesday by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in a report which also found that energy costs within the Eurozone have increased by 27.4 per cent.
Lithuania is reported to have seen the highest level of inflation within the bloc at around 9.3 per cent, followed by Estonia at an estimated 8.4 per cent. Malta, meanwhile, is estimated to have seen the lowest level of inflation within the Eurozone, sitting at around 2.3 per cent.
Major players within the Eurozone such as France and Germany also saw massive increases, estimated at 3.4 and 6 per cent respectively. France’s increased level of inflation is the highest suffered by the country in a decade, according to The Guardian.
Germany’s level of inflation has hit a 29 year high according to a report by Deutsche Welle, which referenced more conservative numbers put out by German statistics agency Destatis, which reports German inflation as being around 5.2 per cent.
The Investment Director at GAM Investments Charles Hepworth wrote that the level of inflation seen in Europe “continues to point to the impossibly incongruent argument from central bankers that this cost-push inflation is transient.”
“As the new, more infectious coronavirus variant lays down roots across the globe and parts of Europe re-enact lockdowns, what does that mean for more persistent inflation shocks?” Hepworth continued.
“It may be wishful thinking on the part of ECB President Lagarde when she declares that price pressures won’t run out of control – they already are.”
While the Eurozone outpaced inflation seen in the United Kingdom, Bidenflation has left both in the dust, with the US seeing a 6.2% annual inflation rate in October, the biggest yearly jump since 1990.
On Tuesday, American Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged the impact inflation was having on US consumers, saying that it “imposes significant burdens, especially on those less able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation”.