Further slowdown inflation her grades show Eurostat For Hellas And Eurozone in January 2023 as a whole, which leads to an improvement in household and business expectations, which is also reflected in the economic sentiment index, which recorded the highest figures in the last 10 months.

The de-escalation of inflationary pressures is mainly due to lower energy prices, while in Greece energy inflation in January was almost zero (0.3% according to Eurostat). At the same time, however, food prices continue to rise, a phenomenon that is mainly due to … a delay in the transfer to consumer prices of the burden that suppliers have borne on the cost of production. Formation of inflation at a lower level compared to previous months is, of course, to a large extent due to the fact that the reference base is now a time period in which strong inflationary trends have already manifested themselves. In particular, in January 2022, inflation in Greece reached 6.2%.

Thus, according to Eurostat estimates, the harmonized consumer price index in January 2023 was 7.2% in Greece, which is the sixth lowest among the 18 eurozone countries (estimates for Germany and Slovenia were not disclosed). Every month, according to Eurostat, the harmonized consumer price index in Greece fell by 0.5%. In the Eurozone, inflation is estimated to have reached 8.5% in January 2023 from 9.2% in December 2022. This change is due to an annual increase in energy prices of 17.2% compared to an annual increase of 25%. .5% in December 2022, while higher growth was recorded in food products (14.1% compared to 13.8% in December), as well as non-energy industrial products (6.9% compared to 6.4% in December).

“Despite the downward trend, inflation is still at very high levels, especially in critical categories such as food, and conditions of pressure on households and the market persist,” notes the Institute for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) in its economic position. review, stressing at the same time that easing inflationary pressures also reduces pessimism. Thus, the economic sentiment index was formed in January 2023 at the level of 104.9 points from 103.5 points in December 2022, the growth was mainly due to improved expectations in the industry to 107.4 points (from 100.4 points in December). The industry’s best picture is also reflected in the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which stood at 49.2 from 47.2 in December. In construction, the index rose to 104.8 points, in retail – up to 106.9 points, and in the service sector – fell to 93 points.