Romania’s headline inflation rate rose to 5.3% YoY in August 2021, from 5% YoY in July, the statistics office INS announced.

The energy prices contributed 3pp to the total annual inflation, as the electricity price surged by 18% in January and the natural gas price by 24% as of July - which added to the gradual recovery of the fuel prices.

The non-food goods prices rose by 7.9% YoY, the food prices by 2.7% YoY, and the services fees by 3.0% YoY. In August alone, consumer prices increased by only 0.24% mom.

The inflation rate since the beginning of the year is 4.7% YTD. The National Bank of Romania increased its inflation forecast for the end of this year to 5.6%.

The average rate of consumer prices in the last 12 months (September 2020 - August 2021) compared to the previous 12 months (September 2019 - August 2020), sometimes defined as trend inflation, is 3.3%, and it has gradually advanced from 2.6% at the end of 2020.

The harmonized index of consumer prices, which measures the rise in prices based on the standardized Eurostat consumer basket, is only 4.0% YoY as of August. 

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andrei@romania-insider.com