Greek inflation rose to 5.7% in October 2026, its highest since February 2023, as gas, electricity and food prices climbed

Prices in Greece rose faster again in October 2026.¹ The national consumer price index was 5.7% higher in October 2026 than in October 2025, against 5.0% in September 2026, according to ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi; ELSTAT), the Hellenic Statistical Authority, which published the figures on 10 November 2026.¹ It is the highest annual rate in ELSTAT's table since February 2023, when it was 6.1%.¹ Natural gas cost 80.0% more than a year earlier, diesel 39.4%, heating oil 37.5%, air tickets 32.9%, petrol 25.0% and electricity 17.9%.¹

How big was the October rise?

Greek consumer prices rose 0.7% between September and October 2026, against 0.1% between September and October 2025.¹ In our reading, that gap is why the annual rate climbed again.¹ Over the twelve months to October 2026, prices averaged 3.9% more than in the previous twelve months, up from 3.6% in the twelve months to September.¹³

By our reading of ELSTAT's item figures, the monthly rise came mostly from food, housing and clothing.¹ Food and non-alcoholic drinks rose 2.3% in the month, which ELSTAT attributes mainly to breakfast cereals, lamb and goat, cheese, yoghurt, fruit and vegetables.¹ Housing rose 0.7%, driven by rents, electricity and natural gas, partly offset by a fall in heating oil.¹ Clothing and footwear rose 1.4%.¹ Hotels, cafés and restaurants fell 0.3%, mainly because hotel prices fell 8.3%.¹

Which prices drove Greek inflation to 5.7%?

ELSTAT publishes how many percentage points each group and the main items add to the total.¹ Housing added 2.20 points and transport 1.95 points of the 5.7% annual rate in October 2026: nearly three-quarters of the total, by our calculation.¹ Hotels, cafés and restaurants added 0.71 points and food 0.44.¹

At item level, petrol added 1.18 points, electricity 0.71, heating oil 0.56, natural gas 0.40, diesel 0.23 and solid fuels 0.04.¹ By our calculation, those six fuel and energy items added about 3.1 of the 5.7 points, against about 3.0 of the 5.0 points in September 2026.¹³

The table uses ELSTAT's figures as published.¹ The release names the prices behind each group's change but does not say why they moved.¹

Did the heating-oil discount show up?

Heating oil was the only energy item in ELSTAT's table of main monthly changes whose price fell in October.¹ Its price dropped 12.3% from September to October 2026, which took 0.28 points off the monthly change, ELSTAT's table shows.¹ Its annual rise slowed to 37.5%, from 53.2% in September.¹³

From 15 October 2026, heating oil has carried a discount of 40 cents a litre at the pump, according to the finance and energy ministries.⁵ In our reading, the monthly fall coincides with that discount, but ELSTAT's release does not attribute it to the discount, and we cannot say how much of the fall it explains.¹⁵ Our heating-oil guide explains how the discount works.

Gas and electricity moved the other way.¹ Natural gas rose 15.3% and electricity 4.7% from September to October 2026.¹ Their annual rises widened to 80.0% and 17.9%, from 55.2% and 15.0% in September.¹³

Is food now pushing prices up?

More than in September.¹³ The food and non-alcoholic drinks group rose 2.1% on the year in October 2026, against 0.6% in September 2026.¹³ In October 2025 the same group's annual rise was 2.3%.¹

Vegetables were 8.4% dearer than a year earlier and added 0.23 points, the largest of the food items in ELSTAT's table.¹ Beef rose 6.5%, lamb and goat 9.1% and eggs 4.9%.¹ Olive oil fell 8.4%, rice 5.9% and pasta 4.2%.¹

What does this mean for rents?

Residential rents rose 6.8% in the year to October 2026, up from 5.9% in September, and added 0.30 points to the total.¹³

ELSTAT also published its monthly notice for rent adjustments on 10 November 2026.¹ It puts the CPI rise over the twelve months to October 2026 at 5.7%.¹ For leases whose annual increase is set by law at 75% of the CPI change, ELSTAT puts the November 2026 increase at 4.3% of the rent being paid, in our translation.¹ΕΛ The notice says it covers only leases whose terms link the rise to the previous twelve months' CPI change, or to 75% of it; any other contract term is not covered.¹ By our calculation, 75% of 5.7% is about 4.3%.¹

Why does Eurostat say 5.6%?

Because its figure was an early estimate.⁴² Eurostat's flash estimate of 4 November 2026 put Greece's rate on the EU's harmonised index of consumer prices, or HICP (ΕνΔΤΚ, Εναρμονισμένος Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή, Enarmonismenos Deiktis Timon Katanaloti), at 5.6% for October 2026.⁴ ELSTAT's own HICP release puts it at 5.7%, up from 5.1% in September, with a monthly rise of 0.4%, the same as the flash.²⁴

So in October 2026 both Greek measures, the national ΔΤΚ (Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή, Deiktis Timon Katanaloti) and the harmonised HICP, stood at 5.7%.¹² They are built differently.¹² ELSTAT's national index excludes households that are not resident in Greece, such as visitors and tourists, its methodology notes say.¹ The HICP gives hotels, cafés and restaurants 177.45 parts per thousand of the basket against 123.27 in the national index, and housing 113.26 against 148.31; it also uses 2025 rather than 2020 as its reference year.¹² Our analysis of September's figures explains the difference.

How does Greece compare with the euro area?

Eurostat's flash estimate put euro-area inflation at 4.0% in October 2026.⁴ Greece's 5.7% HICP rate is 1.7 points above that, by our calculation, against 1.6 points on Eurostat's own Greek estimate.²⁴ Eurostat will publish full October data for every member state on 18 November 2026.⁴

What does 5.7% mean for households?

ELSTAT's index measures the prices paid by the average Greek household.¹ In our reading, a household that heats with gas, drives often, flies or rents will have seen its costs rise faster than 5.7%, while one that heats with oil paid 12.3% less for it than in September, though still 37.5% more than a year earlier.¹ For help with heating costs, see our heating allowance guide; for power bills, our electricity tariffs guide lists prices by supplier.