Euro Area Producer Prices Change

Annual producer inflation in the Euro Area hit a fresh record high of 36.8 percent in March of 2022, compared to a revised 31.5 percent in February and above market expectations of 36.3 percent. Main upward pressure came from rising energy costs (104.1 percent vs 87.3 percent in February) as Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed up prices that were already rising due to the economic recovery following the pandemic. Excluding energy, producer inflation rose 13.6 percent, driven by more expensive intermediate goods amid persistent supply bottlenecks. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 5.3 percent after a 1.1 percent gain in February.