Soaring prices are expected to limit economic growth in Europe this year, with gross domestic product estimates for 2022 being lowered across the continent.

 

Prices in Europe started climbing late last year, pushed mostly by supply chain issues. But the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which started in late February, had an immediate impact on energy prices, putting further upward pressure on prices for transport, industry, food and heating.

 

Consumer prices in the eurozone rose by an average of 8.1 percent in May, the highest annual level since the creation of the common currency in 1999, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), said on Tuesday. In the eurozone, energy costs were 39.2 percent higher than a year earlier.