Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 4.0 percent in October 2026, up from 3.8 percent in September, Eurostat said in its flash estimate, with prices up 0.4 percent on the month. Energy again carried the increase, at an annual rate of 20.8 percent against 18.9 percent in September, followed by services at 3.3 percent, food, alcohol and tobacco at 1.6 percent and non-energy industrial goods at 1.2 percent, while the rate excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco held steady at 2.5 percent. Lithuania recorded the highest national rate at 6.1 percent and Malta the lowest at 2.3 percent, with Italy at 5.6 percent and Germany easing to 2.8 percent.
The reading matched the expectations of economists polled by Reuters and is the first at or above 4 percent since September 2023, CNBC reported. The European Central Bank held its key rate at 2.5 percent last month after a September rise, and markets moved to price a probability of more than 72 percent for a further rise at the bank’s final meeting of the year in December, from 71.8 percent shortly before the release, CNBC said.