In December 2022, inflation slowed down in the EU and the euro area for the second month in a row, including in Croatia, but stayed considerably above the European average, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 9.2%, down from 10.1% in November, while EU annual inflation was 10.4%, down from 11.1% in November.

In October, both areas recorded the highest inflation since Eurostat has been keeping records, 11.5% in the EU and 10.6% in the euro area.

The slowdown of euro area inflation in December was due to a milder rise in energy prices, by 25.5% year on year after a 34.9% rise in November.

The growth of industrial goods’ prices increased from 6.1% to 6.4%. When fresh food and energy are excluded, euro area inflation was 6.9% in December, up 0.3% percentage points from November.

Month on month, consumer prices fell 0.2% in the EU and 0.4% in the euro area.

Compared with November, annual inflation fell in 22 member states, including Croatia, remained stable in two and rose in three.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Spain (5.5%), Luxembourg (6.2%) and France (6.7%), while the highest were recorded in Hungary (25%), Latvia (20.7%) and Lithuania (20%).

Croatia’s annual inflation in December was 12.7%, down 0.3 percentage points on the month. It December 2021, it was 5.2%. Month on month, prices in Croatia fell 0.1%, like in Estonia and France.

Italy’s annual inflation in December was 12.3%, while Germany’s was 9.6%. Both are important trade partners for Croatia.