Inflation in the European Union and the euro zone reached its highest level on record in March 2022, Eurostat reported on Thursday. In Croatia inflation was close to the euro zone rate, according to a report published by the EU statistics bureau.

In the European Union, year-on-year inflation was 7.8 percent in March 2022, its highest level since 2001, while in the previous month it was 6.2 percent. In the euro zone the year-on-year inflation rate was 7.4 percent, its highest level since 1996. In February, it was 5.9 percent.

In the euro zone, energy prices increased the most, by 44.4 percent, contributing 4.36 percentage points to the total inflation rate. In February, energy prices went up by 32 percent. Prices of fresh food rose by 7.8 percent. Only Belgium and Slovenia recorded lower inflation rates in March than in February while seven EU countries registered double-digit inflation rates in March.

The highest inflation was recorded in Lithuania (15.6 percent), followed by Estonia (14.8 percent) and the Czech Republic (11.9 percent). The lowest rates were registered in Malta (4.5 percent), France (5.1 percent) and Portugal (5.5 percent). In Croatia, inflation was 7.3 percent in March, the highest level since July 2008.

By comparison, Croatia’s inflation rate was 6.3 percent in February 2022 and only 1.6 percent in March 2021.