Euro zone producer prices surged in October to post their biggest annual increase since February 2001 as soaring oil prices boosted energy costs, the European Union statistics office said today.
Producer prices rose 0.7 per cent from the previous month, the largest monthly jump since January 2003, and climbed 4 per cent from a year earlier, according to Eurostat.
The data, which comes as the European Central Bank holds a policy-setting meeting, was in line with the consensus forecast of economists polled by Reuters. Economist had expected the past record highs scaled by oil prices to feed through to the data.
It marked a sharp acceleration from September when producer prices rose by 0.2 per cent from the previous month and by a revised 3.3 per cent from a year earlier.
A breakdown showed October energy prices rose 2.6 per cent on a monthly basis and 9.4 per cent on an annual one.
It was the biggest monthly increase since January 2003 and the largest year-on-year gain since February 2001. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also highlighted the October energy price surge in a monthly report that compiles inflation data from its 30 member countries.