Austria Faces 4.1 Percent Inflation in November

In the Eurozone, inflation in November was 2.2 percent. "The greatest price dynamics are seen in energy," explained Statistics Austria head Manuela Lenk. The price increase also intensified for food, tobacco, and alcohol.

Why Such High Inflation?

Inflation in November was only higher in Estonia and Croatia. One reason for the high inflation in Austria this year is the removal of energy subsidies by the federal government at the beginning of the year, as well as the sharply increased network costs for electricity and gas in January 2025. According to a quick estimate, energy cost 10.9 percent more in November than a year ago, after 9.4 percent in October.

Experts assume that from January 2026, inflation will be significantly lower. This is mainly due to a statistical effect: since the prices of the previous year's month are used for the inflation calculation, the expiration of energy subsidies from early 2026 will no longer have an impact. Experts refer to this as a base effect.

Finance State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) stated that the government's goal is to reduce inflation to 2 percent. The announced electricity market reform, the Electricity Industry Act (ElWG), which the government now calls the "Cheap Electricity Act," is also expected to contribute to this.

Call for a Stop to All CO2 Taxes

The FPÖ holds the governing parties ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS, as well as the Greens, responsible for the high inflation. From the FPÖ's perspective, high taxes and climate protection are to blame for the expensive energy. FPÖ economic spokesperson Barbara Kolm therefore called for an immediate stop to all CO2 taxes. The economically liberal Agenda Austria urged the government to ensure more competition instead of distributing money.

In the service sector, which ranges from gastronomy to finance to media, the price increase was 4.5 percent, making services the strongest price driver in November as well. The so-called core inflation, which includes the areas of services and industrial goods, remained at 3.4 percent according to a quick estimate.

The quick estimates from Statistics Austria are based on the price data available at the time of publication. Normally, about 80 to 90 percent of the prices collected for the consumer price index (CPI) are already available. The final value for November will be published on December 17. The EU-wide harmonized HICP in Austria was also 4.1 percent in November according to a quick estimate, after 4.0 percent in October.

(APA/Red)

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