Eurozone inflation rose 2.4% year-on-year in April 2024, unchanged from March. This is evidenced by preliminary data from Eurostat.
Analysts surveyed by Trading Economics also expected euro zone inflation to remain at last month's level.
The core inflation rate excluding energy and food costs slowed to 2.7% in April, the lowest level since February 2022 (2.9% in March 2024).
As of April, Croatia (4.7%) and Belgium (4.9%) had the highest annual inflation rates among the bloc members, while Lithuania (0.4%) and Finland (0.6%) had the lowest.
According to Euronews, April's inflation data could provide the basis for the European Central Bank to make its first interest rate cut in June 2024. However, further caution may be needed if the monthly headline inflation rate and core inflation rate remain at these levels beyond May. If these levels hold, the ECB's rate-cutting cycle could be thwarted or suspended.
The seasonally adjusted GDP of the euro area and the European Union (EU) for the January-March period of 2024 increased by 0.3% compared to the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the euro area economy contracted by 0.1% sequentially, while the EU remained stable.
As GMK Center previously reported, Fitch Ratings has revised its 2024 global GDP growth forecast to 2.4%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the previous forecast. Expectations for the eurozone were revised to 0.6% from 0.7%.
