Eurozone Inflation Holds At 2%; Some Analysts Say ECB Done Lowering Rates

- Headline rate exceeds estimate

- Core rate unchanged from June

- EUR/USD moves below 1.14

By Eric Culp, European Editor

LiveSquawk News

@eculp.bsky.social

@EricCulpLS

 

1 August 2025 | 09:50 GMT

 

Consumer price growth in the euro area last month held at the level reported in June, leaving it in line with the target of the European Central Bank. 

 

In a preliminary report, the EU statistics office Eurostat said annual Eurozone inflation in July stayed at the previous month’s rate of 2.0%—the ECB’s medium-term goal—keeping it above the market forecast of 1.9%.

 

The less-volatile euro area core rate held as expected at 2.3% y/y, the mark set in May and June.

 

Measured at a monthly rate, consumer price growth in July was flat versus the 0.3% increase in June and the expected decline of 0.1%.

 

The EUR/USD moved below 1.14 on the news. Last month it traded at 1.18 for the first time in four years.

 

The report offered mixed results for European consumers. The rate of price growth for fresh food jumped a percentage point to 5.6y/y from June’s mark. Services eased two-tenths to 3.1%, with the measures for the rest of the components slowing. Falling energy prices—down 2.5% y/y versus a 2.7% drop in June—helped counter increases.

 

On the month, prices for non-energy industrial goods and fresh food dropped 2.4% and 0.2% respectively, with services costs up 1.0%.

 

“Today's data do not significantly alter our outlook for inflation,” Oxford Economics said in a note. “Looking forward, we still believe inflation will undershoot the ECB’s 2% target later this year and for the whole of 2026.”

 

Oxford Economics explained that it still expects an ECB rate cut in September, but July’s inflation report has reduced those odds. Analysts at Deutsche Bank, Nomura, Barclays and HSBC have recently said the Eurozone interest rate cutting cycle that began last year has ended. Last week, the ECB left rates unchanged, a move that followed a 25bp cut in June.

 

Member states offer mixed picture

 

Preliminary consumer price data from the four largest Eurozone economies provided varying messages on price growth. On Thursday, Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, said its EU annual harmonised inflation dropped to 1.8% from to 2.0% in June, a larger decline than the 1.9% forecast.

 

Earlier in the day, Italy announced a 1.7% increase in consumer prices, which followed 1.8% in June and outpaced the forecast of 1.6%.

 

France, the second-largest economy, was the first to release inflation data Thursday, reporting a rise of 0.9%. This was unchanged from June’s reading and above the estimate of 0.8%.

 

Spain, the four-largest economy, said Wednesday that its annual headline rate matched the market forecast of 2.7%, well above the 2.3% reported in June.

 

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