ISTANBUL

Annual inflation rate hit 4.4% across the EU in October, up from 3.6% in September, and from minus 0.3% compared to the same month last year, according to Eurostat on Wednesday.

Official data issued by Eurostat showed that the energy sector (2.21 percentage points) was the main contributor of price increases, followed by services (0.86), non-energy industrial goods (0.55) and food, alcohol-tobacco (0.43).

The lowest inflation figures were seen in Malta (1.4%), Portugal (1.8%), Finland, and Greece (both 2.8%).

The largest consumer prices increases were posted by Lithuania (8.2%), Estonia (6.8%), and Hungary (6.6%).

"Compared with September, annual inflation rose in all twenty-seven Member States," the statistical office said.

On the eurozone side, the inflation rate was 4.1% in October 2021, up from 3.4% in September, and from minus 0.3% in October 2020.

Inflation has become an urgent problem around the world during the pandemic as central banks resorted to monetary expansion.

While US inflation hit a 31-year high in October with 6.2%, the UK posted a 10-year high annual inflation rate of 4.2% in the same month.