Euro-zone inflation hits 3.8% as energy prices jump 18.9%

Annual inflation in the countries that use the euro rose to 3.8% in September from 3.2% in August, the European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, said in its final estimate on Oct. 16, 2026, as energy prices climbed 18.9 per cent from a year earlier.

A year ago, in September 2025, euro-area inflation stood at 2.2 per cent. Eurostat’s figures show energy alone accounted for about 1.7 percentage points of this September’s 3.8 per cent rate, the largest single contribution, followed by services at about 1.5 points.

The Eurostat release put the energy rate at 18.9 per cent in September, up from 14.3 per cent in August and a decline of 0.4 per cent in September 2025. Services inflation was 3.2 per cent, up from 3.0 per cent in August. Food, alcohol and tobacco rose 1.3 per cent, while prices of non-energy industrial goods rose 1.1 per cent.

Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, stood at 2.5 per cent, compared with 2.4 per cent in August. Prices rose 0.6 per cent from August to September on a monthly basis.

Across the wider European Union, annual inflation was also 3.8 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent in August and 2.6 per cent a year earlier. Eurostat said inflation rose in 23 member states from August, stayed stable in three and fell in one.

The lowest annual rates were in Sweden at 1.0 per cent, and in Hungary and Denmark, both at 2.1 per cent. The highest were in Romania at 6.5 per cent, Lithuania at 6.1 per cent and Bulgaria at 5.6 per cent.

The figures put pressure on the European Central Bank, which raised its deposit rate to 2.50 per cent in September, according to a report by Market Business News on the Eurostat data. That report said the ECB warned at the time that the Middle East conflict was generating inflation pressure and kept a meeting-by-meeting approach without committing to a future path for rates. Canada News Media has not independently reviewed the ECB’s statement.

The energy surge in Europe tracks a wider rise in oil prices. Brent crude topped US$111 a barrel on Oct. 20 for the first time since May, as Canada News Media reported. Oil-exporting Canada is not insulated from the same price swings: a recent widening of the discount on Western Canadian Select, the benchmark heavy crude produced in Alberta, to US$27 a barrel shows that higher global prices do not reach every producer equally.

For Canadians, Europe is a major trading partner under the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and higher costs across the euro area feed into the prices of European goods and the pace of European demand. Canadians travelling to the euro area also face a living-cost backdrop that has tightened over the past year. Travel advisories are posted at travel.gc.ca.

The inflation figures arrive as European leaders also wrestle with spending plans. EU leaders’ budget talks ended split earlier this month, with European Council President Antonio Costa taking over the negotiating text.

Eurostat’s next flash estimate, covering October, is scheduled for Nov. 4, 2026. Its next full release is due Nov. 18, 2026.

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