VIENNA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Austria's annual inflation stood at 7.8 percent in 2023, lower than the 8.6 percent reported the year before but still almost four times the 2-percent target set by the European Central Bank, Statistics Austria said on Wednesday.
Director-General of Statistics Austria Tobias Thomas said in a statement that more than half of the inflation in 2023 was contributed by price hikes in catering services, food, maintenance and repairs of dwellings, while dropping fuel prices helped dampen inflation.
Thomas noted that the decline in Austria's inflation last year was not as pronounced as most other countries in the eurozone.
In 2022, consumer prices in Austria rose by an average of 8.6 percent, the highest annual increase since 1975, mainly driven by surging energy prices, according to data from Statistics Austria.
Last year, the country saw its annual inflation rate drop from 11.2 percent in January to 5.3 percent in November, mainly thanks to the falling energy prices. However, inflation picked up again in December to 5.6 percent. ■