Ungarn Verbraucherpreise

The annual inflation rate in Hungary climbed to 4.6% in December 2024 from a four-month high of 3.7% in the previous month, above market expectations of 4.4%. This marked the highest inflation rate since December 2023, primarily driven by higher prices of food (5.4% vs 4.9% in November), particularly flour (36.2%), eggs (21.9%), and milk (19.5%). Additionally, costs increased at a faster pace for alcoholic beverages and tobacco (4.3% vs 4%), while it rebounded for both household energy (0.5% vs -3.2%) and consumer durables (0.6% vs -0.2%). Conversely, prices edged lower for services (6.8% vs 7%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices stood at 0.5% in December, remaining unchanged from the previous month. Meanwhile, the core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, rose to a three-month high of 4.7% in December from a five-month low of 4.4% in November, exceeding market forecasts of 4.5%.