Inflation rate in Greece at 2.5% in July; hike after 10 months of decrease, foods prices still surging

The annual inflation rate in Greece totaled 2.5 percent last month, July 2023, according to figures released on Tuesday by the country’s statistics authority, EL.STAT.

The figure was higher from June 2023, a month earlier, when the inflation rate reached 1.8 percent. The development lies in the fact that the inflation rate increased after 10 consecutive months of falling.

Once again, the most ominous development in the overall figure was the greater price hikes for foodstuffs, on a month-to-month basis. Specifically, fruit prices increased by 19.4 percent, on a monthly basis, in July 2023; vegetables by 15.5 percent, and eggs/dairy products by 14.4 percent. Additionally, pharmaceutical products increased by 18.7 percent.

The figure for the same month in July 2022, amid a world-wide inflation crisis, was 11.6 percent.

The harmonized inflation rate is 3.5 percent.

According to EL.STAT, the all-important consumer price index between August 2022 and July 2023, compared to the August 2021-July 2022 period posted an increase of 6.2 percent, compared to a hike of 7.1 percent over the period August 2020-July 2021 and August 2021-July 2022.