Already high inflation in Italy continued to rise in September. Compared to the same month last year, the recorded consumer prices increased by 9.4 percent, as the statistics office Istat announced on Monday in Rome after a second estimate. This is the highest rate since the euro was introduced as book money in 1999. In the previous month, the rate was 9.1 percent.
However, a first estimate for September was revised down slightly by 0.1 percentage point. According to Istat, the increase in prices is mainly due to more expensive food and various services and goods. In contrast, energy prices rose less sharply and thus dampened price dynamics. The high inflation is well above the price target of the European Central Bank, which is targeting two percent inflation for the entire euro area.
Economists expect high inflation worldwide
But not only Italy is affected by such a high inflation rate. According to a survey by the ifo Institute and the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy, economic experts from 129 countries assume that there will be very high inflation rates worldwide this year and next. For this year, they expect global average inflation to be 9.5 percent, which is “6.7 percentage points higher than the average inflation rate for the past decade given by the World Bank,” said the ifo Institute in Munich on Monday.
The figures refer to the median of the average expected inflation rates at the country level. The regional differences are very large: In Western Europe, the participants expect 7.3 percent inflation this year, but 19 percent in Eastern Europe, 5.6 percent in Southeast Asia, 30 percent in Western Asia, 7.2 percent in North America and 30 percent in South America , in East Africa even almost 60 percent.
The high price increases worldwide are likely to continue: “With an average inflation rate of 7.5 percent in 2023, only a slight decrease compared to 2022 is expected.” For 2026, economists worldwide still expected 5.0 percent.
