Eurozone February inflation rises; CPI year-on-year increases by 1.9%, exceeding expectations

LootboxPhobia · 2026-03-03T13:00:33+00:00

Eurozone February consumer price inflation rose 1.9% year-on-year, exceeding expectations, with rising energy prices drawing attention. Core inflation data also increased, and the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged, warning that future inflation may fluctuate and emphasizing the need to maintain policy flexibility.

LootboxPhobia

2026-03-03 13:00:33

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Investing.com - Data released on Tuesday showed that consumer price inflation in the Eurozone in February exceeded expectations, which will attract the European Central Bank’s attention as energy prices are rising.

The estimated Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 1.9% year-on-year last month, higher than January’s 1.7% and above expectations.

On a month-on-month basis, data rose by 0.7% last month, after a 0.6% decline in January.

Excluding volatile items such as food and fuel, the “core” data for the 12 months ending in February rose from 2.2% to 2.4% compared to the previous month.

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At the ECB’s first policy meeting of 2026 in early February, interest rates were kept unchanged, reaffirming the expectation that inflation will stabilize around the 2% target in the medium term.

During the ECB press conference, President Christine Lagarde reiterated that both the central bank and the eurozone inflation outlook are in “good shape,” but also warned that inflation data in the coming months could fluctuate unevenly, emphasizing that policy decisions should not be driven by a single data release.

Additionally, ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras stated on Tuesday that due to the impact of the Iran conflict (including potential inflation increases), which will depend on the duration of the conflict, the ECB should maintain flexibility when setting interest rates.

The ongoing conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran is expanding to other countries in the region, which is seen as a potential driver of higher inflation, as well as disrupting energy supplies and other chemicals, damaging Europe’s already fragile economic growth.

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