Fueled by oil and gas prices, eurozone sees another record rise of inflation

Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Inflation in the eurozone -- the nearly two dozen countries that use the euro -- has risen to another record level, officials said on Wednesday.

Eurostat reported that consumer prices climbed by 5.1% in January, compared to 12 months earlier. January, in fact, marked the third straight month that annual inflation posted a record increase.

Prices had increased year-to-year by 4.9% in November and 5% in December, which were both records at the time.

Eurostat, the European Union's statistical reporting branch, said the rise has been fueled mainly by increases in oil and gas prices -- and partly by a 3.6% rise in the cost of food, alcohol and tobacco.

The inflation report came ahead of a key policy meeting of the European Central Bank in Germany on Thursday. The bank's Governing Council will meet in Frankfurt to discuss the challenge of controlling inflation, as well as fiscal implications relating to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

"If tensions deepen, resulting in disruptions in energy supply to Europe, we expect the ECB to turn increasingly dovish, focusing on the impact of growth and financial stability, despite likely higher energy inflation in the short term," analyst Anatoli Annenkov said, according to CNBC.

There are 19 members that make up the eurozone -- Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.