Core consumer price pressures in the Euro Zone intensified in September 2026, with the CPI excluding tobacco rising 3.8% year-over-year, up from 3.2% in August. The figures, updated on 16 October 2026, mark a renewed acceleration in underlying inflation after a prior month of slower price growth.
Both the current and previous readings compare prices to the same month a year earlier, highlighting that September’s uptick represents a clear shift in momentum rather than a base-effect quirk. In August 2026, the year-over-year increase in the CPI ex tobacco had eased to 3.2%, but September’s data show that disinflationary trends have stalled, at least temporarily.
The pickup in core inflation—stripping out tobacco-related volatility—underscores persistent price pressures in the Euro Zone economy and is likely to shape expectations around future policy moves, as markets and policymakers assess whether this rebound is a one-off or the start of a renewed inflationary phase.
