Eurozone November CPI Hits Lowest in 2 Years and 4 Months (Comprehensive)

CPI Rises 2.4% Year-on-Year
Lowest Level Since July 2021
ECB May Cut Interest Rates for the First Time in Early April Next Year

The Eurozone's Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November rose by 2.4% compared to the same period last year. The rate of increase slowed significantly from the previous month, marking the lowest level in 2 years and 4 months.

According to Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, on the 30th (local time), the Eurozone's consumer prices in November increased by 2.4% compared to one year ago. The rate of increase slowed by 0.5 percentage points compared to October's 2.9%, falling to the lowest level since July 2021. This result also fell short of the financial market's expectation of 2.7%.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The core inflation rate in November also slowed from 4.2% in the previous month to 3.6%.

As the rate of inflation slows, expectations for interest rate cuts are likely to grow stronger. The market is predicting the first rate cut to occur in April next year. This is far from the ECB's forecast that inflation will return to the 3% range next year and reach the target of 2% by the end of 2025.

The ECB raised interest rates consecutively 10 times starting from July last year but froze rates for the first time last month. Previously, on the 26th of last month, the ECB kept the benchmark interest rate at 4.5% per annum, and the deposit rate and marginal lending rate were held steady at 4.0% and 4.75% per annum, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.