Inflation amounts to 3.97%

Inflation amounts to 3.97%

Consumer Price Index of August 2026

• Inflation goes from 3.56% to 3.97% in August.
• The Consumer Price Index this month increases by 0.41 points or 0.40%.
• Inflation based on the health index has increased from 3.22% in July to 3.44% in August.
• The smoothed health index is running at 100.94 points in August.
• Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 2.99% in August, compared to 3.13% in July.
• The most significant price increases in August were registered for natural gas, motor fuels, clothing, electricity and domestic heating oil. However, plane tickets, household appliances and package holidays have had a decreasing effect on the index.

Inflation is now running at 3.97%, compared to 3.56% in July and 3.40% in June. Inflation based on the health index amounts to 3.44% this month compared to 3.22% in July and 2.99% in June. Inflation without energy now amounts to 2.81% compared to 2.95% last month and 2.81% in June. Core inflation, which does not take into account price evolutions of energy products and unprocessed food, stands at 2.99% in August, compared to 3.13% in July and 3.04% in June.

Comment on inflation

With regard to energy, inflation stands this month at 16.47%, compared to 10.59% in July and 10.31% in June. For electricity, inflation is currently at 7.8% compared to 7.9% last month. For natural gas, it went from 10.3% last month to 24.9% this month. The price of natural gas increased by 9.8% compared to last month and that of electricity rose by 1.0%. The price of domestic heating oil, calculated based on a smoothed 12-month moving average, has increased by 12.1% in one year. Motor fuels cost 24.1% more than in August last year and increased by 4.7% this month compared to the previous month.

Inflation for services has gone from 5.17% to 4.70%. Inflation for rents decreased from 3.21% last month to 3.11% this month. Inflation for food products (including alcoholic beverages) stands at 0.36% this month, compared to 0.27% last month.

Energy inflation goes from 10.59% in July to 16.47% in August and accounts for 1.44 percentage points to total inflation. Food, with an inflation rate of 0.36%, accounts for 0.07 percentage points.

The price of natural gas has increased by 9.8% in August compared to the previous month. Prices for electricity have gone up by 1.0% on average this month.

Some products and services that rose sharply in price compared to August last year are:

Some products and services that fell sharply in price compared to August last year are:

The main group with the largest upward effect ^[i] on inflation in August is "Housing, water and energy" with an effect on inflation of 0.57 percentage points. The largest downward effect was measured for "Food and non-alcoholic beverages" with -0.81 percentage points.

The main group with the largest contribution ^[ii] to inflation in August is "Housing, water and energy" with 1.16 percentage points. The group "Education" provided the smallest positive contribution: 0.02 percentage points.

The first inflation estimate according to the European Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP flash estimate) amounts to 4.2% in August 2026.

Comment on the level of the indices

The Consumer Price Index has increased by 0.41 points or 0.40% in August and now amounts to 104.01 points, compared to 103.60 points in July (2025=100). The health index has gained 0.25 points to 103.49 points in August, up from 103.24 points in July. The smoothed health index is running at 100.94 points in August. The next central index for public service and social benefits is set at 102.29 points.

The most significant price increases in August were registered for natural gas, motor fuels, clothing, electricity and domestic heating oil. However, plane tickets, household appliances and package holidays have had a decreasing effect on the index.

The most important trends this month are:

The price of natural gas increased by an average of 9.8%. Motor fuels have become on average 4.7% more expensive in August. The price of clothing has also increased, by 2.6%. Electricity is on average 1.0% more expensive in August. The price of domestic heating oil has also increased, by 2.8%.

Plane tickets have become on average 8.4% cheaper in August. The price of household appliances decreased by an average of 3.9%. Prices for package holidays also decreased in August, by 1.0% on average.

^[i] The effect on inflation shows the changes on the inflation rate by including this product group in the CPI calculation. The effect not only takes the weight of the product group into account, but it also takes into account whether the product group inflation is higher or lower than that of the total expenditure (overall CPI).

^[ii] The contribution to inflation of a specific product group shows how much of the change in the total expenditure is due to the price variation of this product group.