Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – Inflation in the euro zone rose in September to a new three-year high, due to soaring energy prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East, according to official data released on Friday.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 14:06

Price increases in the 21 countries sharing the single European currency accelerated to 3.8%, compared to 3.2% in August, according to a first estimate from Eurostat, almost double the European Central Bank's (ECB) target of 2%.

This is unheard of since September 2023, in the wake of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which led to an unprecedented jump in prices in the euro zone.

This acceleration in September, linked to the surge in oil prices since the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East in early July, is higher than the expectations of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, who were counting on a rate of 3.7%.

According to Eurostat, the rise in energy prices reached 18.8% in September in the euro zone, compared to 14.3% the previous month.

And the pump price of diesel has just reached a new historic high in the EU with a weekly average of 2.24 euros per liter, according to a compilation of national data published Thursday by the European Commission.

According to Eurostat, the prices of services accelerated slightly in the euro zone in September (+0.2 points to 3.2%), as well as those of food (+0.3 points to 1.4%). On the other hand, the rise in prices of industrial goods slowed a little (-0.1 point to 1.1%).

Price tensions

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of the most volatile goods (including energy and food), increased very slightly, to 2.5% (+0.1 point).

The acceleration of inflation, which is weighing on European households and businesses, has pushed the ECB to tighten its monetary policy in recent months.

It has already raised its key interest rates twice this year, bringing the principal to 2.5%, and has not formally ruled out the possibility of further monetary tightening in the coming months, due to price tensions.

The financial institution will now have to monitor very closely the risks of the rise in energy prices spreading to the rest of the economy, said in a note Bert Colijn, economist at the Dutch bank ING, who said he was already seeing "some signals" in this direction, even if they remain very early.

It thus refers to the rise in food prices and the level of underlying inflation.

“The ECB still has work to do,” he warned.

© 2026 AFP

The content you are trying to access does not exist or is no longer available.