Christmas market in Cottbus, Germany.
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Eurozone inflation was 2.2% in November, up slightly from the previous month, preliminary data from data agency Eurostat showed on Tuesday.
The latest consumer price index is slightly above the European Central Bank’s target of 2%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 2.1% rise in the 12 months through November.
Looking at the main components of inflation in the euro area, the services industry is expected to have the highest annual rate of 3.5% in November, up from 3.4% in October, Eurostat said.
Core inflation, which excludes the more volatile prices of energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, stood at 2.4% in November, unchanged from the previous month.
The ECB kept its key deposit facility rate unchanged at 2% for the third time in a row in late October, and last cut it in June.
The adjustment coincided with eurozone inflation reaching the ECB’s 2% target rate and was part of a rate-cutting cycle that lowered interest rates from last year’s record high of 4%.
ECB Governing Council officials have told CNBC in recent months that the ECB, which has repeatedly said it will take a data-driven approach to setting interest rates at each meeting, is at or near the end of its easing cycle.
After the October interest rate hike, ECB President Christine Lagarde told CNBC that the economy was in good shape from a monetary policy perspective.
“Is it a fixed, good place? No. But we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we stay in a good place,” she said.
