Record inflation: Which countries in Europe are being worst hit as energy and food prices soar?

Eurozone inflation is continuing to soar to record highs, with the latest estimate from the EU's statistics body predicting annual eurozone inflation of 10 per cent.

The September estimate sees prices for food, alcohol and tobacco, non-energy industrial goods, and services all up on the numbers in July and August when annual eurozone inflation was forecasted at 8.9 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.

The September estimate from Eurostat has energy inflation at 40.8 per cent, up over two percentage points compared with 38.6 per cent in August.

The Baltic countries continue to be the hardest hit; Estonia in particular is experiencing the highest levels of inflation in the eurozone and has seen inflation rise year-on-year from 6.4 per cent in September 2021 to 24.2 per cent in September 2022.

Inflation in Latvia and Lithuania also hit 22.4 per cent and 22.5 per cent respectively.

The Netherlands saw the biggest monthly increase in prices, jumping from 13.7 per cent in August to 17.1 per cent in September.

Elsewhere, the UK’s inflation rate has surged to a 40-year-high of 10.1 per cent in July, the Organisaton of National Statistics (ONS) reported on August 17.

Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to annual inflation rates between June and July, the UK's national statistics body said amid the highest inflation hike since 1982.

The eurozone's inflation is up from 7.4 per cent in April, as Europeans continue to see soaring energy and food prices fuelled in part by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The preliminary estimate published on August 31, is the highest since recordkeeping for the eurozone began in 1997.

Every corner of the continent is facing rising prices, with Europe's expected economic bounceback from the