Euro zone inflation hit a new record high in August of 9.1%, according to flash figures from Europe’s statistics office Eurostat, with high energy prices the main driving force.

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The rate was above expectations, with a Reuters poll of economists anticipating a rate of 9%. It is the ninth consecutive record for consumer price rises in the region, with the climb starting back in November 2021. Headline inflation in the euro zone hit 8.9% (year-on-year) in July.

Energy had the highest annual inflation rate at 38.3%, Eurostat said Wednesday, down slightly from 39.6% in July. Food, alcohol and tobacco were up 10.6% compared to 9.8% in July,

Non-energy industrial goods, such as clothing, household appliances and cars were up 5% compared to last year, a 0.5 percentage point increase on last month, while services were up by 3.8% in price year-on-year, 0.1 percentage points more than in July.

Drilling down into national figures, the French inflation rate decreased to 6.5% in August, down from 6.8% in July. The rate was lower than expectations, with economists polled by Reuters having anticipated a drop to 6.7%.

Spain also released slowing inflation figures for August, at 10.3% year-on-year compared to 10.7% for July, according to the Eurostat flash estimate.

Meanwhile, the region’s largest economy, Germany, saw inflation reach its highest level in almost half a century at 8.8% year-on-year in August.

Estonia currently has the highest inflation rate in the euro zone at 25.2%, followed by Lithuania (21.1%) and Latvia (20.8%). Malta and Finland follow France with the lowest inflation rates, at 7.1% and 7.6% respectively.