Euro zone August consumer prices rose 0.2 per cent from the previous month and by a confirmed 2.3 per cent from a year earlier, Eurostat said today.
The data was in line with economists' expectations for a month in which oil prices hit record highs and it compared with the European Central Bank's goal of keeping inflation close to and below 2 per cent.
The headline inflation rate was unchanged from July and unrevised from an early estimate. But the core rate of inflation referred to by the ECB, which excludes volatile energy and unprocessed food costs, rose to 2.2 per cent from 2.1 per cent in July.
Energy prices rose 1.5 per cent from the previous month and climbed 6.5 per cent from a year earlier, their biggest annual gain since May.
A monthly decline of 0.7 per cent in food prices offset part of the upward impact of the increase in energy costs.
Inflation rates in the euro zone ranged from 0.3 per cent in Finland to 3.6 per cent in Luxembourg. Nine of the 12 countries that share the euro currency are running inflation rates above 2 per cent.