Wages and prices › Euro area
Euro area: a wage buys 0.5% more than in 2019
Prices are 27.1% higher than in August 2019. Hourly wages rose 26.7% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026, while prices rose 26.1% over the same quarters. Wages have more than caught up.
How much have prices risen since 2019?
Prices in the euro area are 27.1% higher than in August 2019. What cost €100 then costs €127.07 now.
Price rise since August 2019, by what people buy. The red mark is all items, +27.1%.
- Food and soft drinks+35.1%
- Restaurants and hotels+34.1%
- Housing and energy+33.6%
- Alcohol and tobacco+31.9%
- Transport+29.3%
- Insurance and finance+27.1%
- Personal care and other+22.6%
- Leisure and culture+20.7%
- Health+18.6%
- Education+18.3%
- Furniture and household goods+16.5%
- Clothing and shoes+11.2%
- Phone and internet−5.3%
Have wages kept up?
Hourly wages rose 26.7% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2026. Prices rose 26.1% over the same quarters, so a wage buys 0.5% more than in 2019.
The hourly measure rose in 2020 because people worked fewer hours, not because pay rose.
How does the euro area compare with its biggest economies?
- European UnionPrices +30.0%, wages +30.0%, a wage buys +0.1%
- Euro areaPrices +26.1%, wages +26.7%, a wage buys +0.5%
- GermanyPrices +27.9%, wages +26.4%, a wage buys −1.2%
- FrancePrices +21.4%, wages +19.4%, a wage buys −1.7%
- ItalyPrices +23.6%, wages +17.1%, a wage buys −5.2%
- SpainPrices +24.8%, wages +25.9%, a wage buys +0.9%
- NetherlandsPrices +32.1%, wages +33.3%, a wage buys +1.0%
- BelgiumQ2 2025Prices +24.8%, wages +24.9%, a wage buys +0.1%
Work out your own inflation
Your prices depend on what you buy. Put in what you spend each month and see your own rate beside the official one: your inflation in the euro area.
Sources and method
Prices: Eurostat, HICP (prc_hicp_minr), August 2026 against August 2019. Wages: Eurostat, labour cost index (lc_lci_r2_q), wages and salaries per hour worked, seasonally adjusted, the second quarter of 2026 against the second quarter of 2019. For the comparison, prices are the average of the same months. The figures are as published on 6 October 2026.