The lowest annual rates were seen in France and Malta (both 5.8%) and Finland (7.1%), while the highest annual rates were observed in Estonia (20.1%), Lithuania (18.5%) and Latvia (16.8%).

Initially driven by post-pandemic supply shortages and soaring energy prices in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, inflation has now become increasingly broad, affecting everything from food and services to everyday goods.

The European Commission has recently lowered the economic growth to 4 percent from 2.7% this year. However, economists forecast the EU is likely to plunge into a crisis due to the record inflation rate.