Eurozone inflation accelerated to double digits in October, with growing signs that price pressures are extending beyond food and energy.
The consumer price index – a measure of what consumers pay for goods and services – rose 10.7% in October from a year earlier, up from 9.9% in September, preliminary data from the European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat showed on Monday.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected inflation to be 10.0%.
The acceleration of inflation was due to higher energy prices, which rose by 41.9% year-on-year in October, compared to 40.7% growth in September. Food, alcohol and tobacco prices also picked up pace, rising 13.1% year-on-year from 11.8% growth in September. Prices for non-energy industrial goods and services also accelerated, the data showed.
The core consumer price index, which excludes the more volatile food and energy categories, rose 5% year-on-year in October from 4.8% in September.
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the second time in a row on Thursday, but it signaled growing concerns about economic growth in the region.
Data released on Friday showed the eurozone economy expanded 0.2% in the third quarter, beating economists’ expectations but slowing from the 0.8% growth recorded in the previous three months.
Email Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
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