Eurozone inflation at 2% in October, exceeding forecasts

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - The annual inflation rate in the euro area was 2% in October, exceeding the market expectation of 1.9%, Eurostat revealed on Thursday.

The rate was up from 1.7% in September, Eurostat noted.

Services had the highest annual contribution in October, with a 3.9% price hike, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco with 2.9%.

Among the euro area countries, the highest inflation rates were recorded in Belgium (4.7%), Estonia (4.5%), and Croatia and Slovakia (both 3.5%).

While Slovenia posted zero-percent inflation, Ireland and Lithuania saw 0.1%.