Eurozone producer prices declined for the second straight month in June and at the fastest pace in three months on a sharp reduction in energy prices, data released by Eurostat showed on Thursday.
The producer price index posted an annual decline of 3.4 percent in June, faster than the 1.6 percent decrease in May. Prices were forecast to fall 3.1 percent.
Moreover, this was the steepest decline since June 2020, when prices had fallen 3.7 percent.
Excluding energy, producer price inflation eased to 2.5 percent from 3.3 percent in the previous month.
The annual fall was driven by the 16.5 percent decrease in energy prices and the 2.7 percent drop in intermediate goods prices.
Meanwhile, prices for non-durable consumer goods grew by 8.9 percent annually in June, and those for capital goods gained by 5.2 percent.
On a monthly basis, producer prices fell at a slower pace of 0.4 percent after falling 1.9 percent in May. Economists had forecast a 0.2 percent drop.
