Prices rose 2.9% over the year.

That is slightly faster than June, with services and energy doing most of the pushing. One number is not a trend—but it changes the questions worth asking.

See what moved

What changed

The headline edged up.
The story underneath matters more.

Annual inflation moved from 2.8% in June to 2.9% in July. Compared with July last year, it is 0.9 percentage point higher.

Energy

+10.0%

The fastest-rising major component. It contributed 0.94 percentage point to the headline rate.

Services

+3.3%

The largest contribution to overall inflation: 1.55 percentage points.

Food, alcohol & tobacco

+1.2%

Slower than June’s 1.5%, contributing 0.23 percentage point overall.

Why it matters

Inflation is a rate of change—not a price reset.

When inflation slows, prices generally keep rising, just more slowly. A 2.9% annual rate means the measured basket costs more than a year ago; it does not mean every household experienced exactly 2.9%.

Put it beside interest rates

2.9% inflation.
2.25% ECB deposit rate.

These figures describe different things. The ECB rate is paid to eligible banks on overnight deposits—not automatically to savers. Putting them side by side helps frame the environment, but it is not a personal return calculation.

Read the ECB decision

Inflation

2.90%

ECB deposit facility

2.25%

Latest policy decision: 23 July 2026 · Rate effective from 17 June 2026

Try the number

What could inflation mean for buying power?

This illustration compounds one unchanged inflation rate. Reality varies by year and by what you buy.

Starting amount € Years Annual inflation %

Equivalent future cost €1,154

€133 less buying power if the starting cash amount did not grow.

Our method

A calmer way to read a changing number.

01
Date every signal
A number without its reference period and publication date is easy to misuse.
02
Link the primary source
This release uses Eurostat for inflation and the ECB for policy rates.
03
Separate fact from interpretation
Measured changes are facts; what they mean for an individual depends on circumstances.
04
Say what is not known
One monthly reading cannot establish the next trend or predict a policy decision.

Next scheduled signal

Euro area inflation flash estimate

01September
2026

We will compare the new reading with this one after Eurostat publishes it.