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Eurostat: Romania remained in April the EU member state with the highest inflation rate
Romania maintained in April its position as the country with the highest annual inflation rate among the European Union member states, of 4.3 percent measured by Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP), Eurostat data showed on Wednesday.
“The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.3 percent), Slovakia (3.0 percent) and Estonia (2.9 percent). Compared with March 2018, annual inflation fell in twelve Member States, remained stable in one and rose in fourteen,” EU’s statistical office said.
The HICP index used by Eurostat measure price with an unified basket of consumer products and services for the 28 member states.
But the Romanian basket of consumer products and services, which includes a higher percentage of food products, shows a different picture.
Compared with the same month of last year, the prices of food products rose by 4 percent on average, while non-food products increased by 7.2 percent. The prices of services went up by 2.8 percent.
Compared with March, the biggest price increases were recorded for natural gas (4.3 percent), fresh fruits (2.7 percent), tobacco products (2.4 percent) and fuels (1.6 percent).
The price of natural gas for households rose by 10.2 percent compared to December 2017.