ROME, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Italy's consumer price index rose by an average of 1 percent in 2024, despite higher year-on-year increases toward the end of the year, the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) reported Thursday.
The 1-percent average increase in 2024 was significantly lower than the 5.7-percent average recorded in 2023, a year when surging energy and transportation costs drove prices sharply higher.
Despite the relatively low inflation rate in 2024, price increases accelerated in the second half of the year, according to ISTAT data. The consumer price index in December 2024 grew 1.3 percent year on year.
Italy's inflation rate remained among the lowest in the 20-nation eurozone starting in late 2023 and continuing throughout 2024. The annual inflation rate in the eurozone was 2.4 percent in 2024, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. ■
