Romania ended 2025 with the highest inflation rate in the European Union, with annual inflation standing at 8.6% in December, compared to an EU average of just 2.3%, according to data published by Eurostat.
The next highest inflation rates, at roughly half Romania’s level, were recorded in Estonia and Slovakia, at around 4%–4.1%. The lowest inflation rates were recorded in Cyprus (0.1%), France (0.7%), and Italy (1.2%).
Across the European Union as a whole, annual inflation was 2.3% in December, easing from 2.4% in November and from 2.7% a year earlier. In the euro area, annual inflation stood at 1.9% in December 2025, down from 2.1% in November. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4%.
Compared to November 2025, annual inflation declined in eighteen EU member states, remained stable in three, and increased in six.
Romania’s inflation rate eased slightly in December to 9.7%, from 9.8% in both November and October, and down from a peak of 9.9% recorded in September and August, according to INS data. Calculated based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), the indicator used for EU-wide comparisons, Romania’s annual inflation rate stood at 8.6% in December 2025.
In terms of monthly inflation (December versus November 2025), Romania was in line with the euro area average at 0.2%, slightly above the EU average of 0.1%.
The largest contribution to annual inflation in the euro area came from services (+1.54 percentage points), followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco (+0.49 pp), non-energy industrial goods (+0.09 pp), while energy had a negative contribution (-0.18 pp).
