Greek inflation rose to 5.6% in October 2026, Eurostat's flash estimate shows, 1.6 points above the euro area
Greece's harmonised inflation rate rose for a third month in a row, to an estimated 5.6% in October 2026, while the euro area's rose to 4.0%. Eurostat's flash estimate gives no reason for the Greek rise; ELSTAT's breakdown is due on 10 November 2026.
10We read 10 sources, 7 in Greek, 5 of them official documents, including Eurostat's flash table for all 21 euro-area countries and ELSTAT's release calendar, so you can read this in 3 minutes. What we checked ↓
At a glance
- Greece's annual inflation rate on the EU's harmonised index (HICP) was an estimated 5.6% in October 2026, up from 5.1% in September 2026 and 1.6% in October 2025, Eurostat's flash estimate of 4 November 2026 shows.1
- Euro-area inflation was an estimated 4.0% in October 2026, so Greece was 1.6 percentage points above it, against 1.3 points in September 2026, by our calculation.1
- Greece and Italy share the third-highest rate in the euro area at 5.6%, behind Lithuania (6.1%) and Bulgaria (6.0%). The flash gives no breakdown of what drove the Greek figure.1
Prices in Greece rose faster again in October 2026.1 Greece's annual inflation rate on the EU's harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) was an estimated 5.6% in October 2026, up from 5.1% in September 2026 and 3.7% in August 2026, according to a flash estimate published on 4 November 2026 by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.1 In October 2025 the Greek rate was 1.6%.1 Greek prices rose an estimated 0.4% between September and October 2026, the same monthly rise as in the euro area.1
How far above the euro area is Greek inflation?
Euro-area annual inflation was an estimated 4.0% in October 2026, up from 3.8% in September 2026.1 Greece's 5.6% is 1.6 percentage points above the euro area, against a gap of 1.3 points in September 2026, by our calculation.1 The gap was 0.5 points in August 2026, and in July 2026 Greece's 2.7% was below the euro area's 2.9%, by our calculation from Eurostat's table.1
October 2026 is the third month in a row in which Greece's harmonised rate has risen, from 2.7% in July 2026.1 At 5.6%, it is the highest Greek rate in Eurostat's table, which covers each month from May to October 2026 as well as October 2025.1
Where does Greece rank in the euro area?
Greece and Italy share the third-highest rate of the 21 euro-area countries in October 2026, at an estimated 5.6% each, by our count of Eurostat's table.1 Only Lithuania, at 6.1%, and Bulgaria, at 6.0%, are higher.1 Capital.gr and Newmoney.gr reported the same Greek figure on 4 November 2026.910 Cyprus follows at 5.4% and Belgium at 5.2%, while the lowest rates are in Malta, at 2.3%, and Germany, at 2.8%.1 Italy's rate rose from 4.2% in September 2026 to 5.6% in October 2026, a rise of 1.4 points against Greece's 0.5, by our calculation.1
What pushed Greek inflation up in October?
Eurostat's flash estimate does not say.1 For individual countries, the flash release gives only the headline annual and monthly rates; the split into energy, food, services and goods is published for the euro area as a whole.1
For the euro area, energy prices were an estimated 20.8% higher in October 2026 than a year earlier, up from 18.9% in September 2026.1 Services rose 3.3%, food, alcohol and tobacco 1.6%, and non-energy industrial goods 1.2%.1 Inflation excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco was 2.5% in both September and October 2026.1 These are euro-area figures and say nothing directly about Greece.1
What do we know about energy prices in Greece?
In September 2026, the national figures of ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Elliniki Statistiki Archi; ELSTAT), the Hellenic Statistical Authority, showed natural gas 55.2% dearer than a year earlier, heating oil 53.2% and electricity 15.0%.2 Since then, heating oil has carried a discount at the pump and ΔΕΗ's green electricity tariff has risen for November 2026, but no published figure yet shows what either did to October's inflation rate.741
From 15 October 2026, heating oil has carried a discount of 40 cents a litre at the pump, 20 cents from the state and 20 cents from the refineries, according to the finance and energy ministries.7 On 30 October 2026 the ministries announced that the fuel subsidy would continue from 1 to 15 November 2026.8 Our heating-oil guide explains how it works.
ΔΕΗ (Δημόσια Επιχείρηση Ηλεκτρισμού, Dimosia Epicheirisi Ilektrismou; PPC), the Public Power Corporation, raised its green tariff for the first 200 kWh a month from €0.15913/kWh in October 2026 to €0.16901/kWh in November 2026, a rise of 6.2% by our calculation.4 Capital.gr reported the November price as 16.9 cents a kilowatt-hour.5 Energymag's headline of 1 November 2026 reported a 26% rise in the wholesale electricity market.6 In our reading, November tariffs apply to November consumption, so they belong in November's index rather than October's.4 Our electricity tariffs guide lists November prices by supplier.
When will ELSTAT publish October's figures?
ELSTAT's release calendar schedules both the October 2026 consumer price index and the October 2026 HICP for 10 November 2026.3 ELSTAT's national consumer price index, the ΔΤΚ (Δείκτης Τιμών Καταναλωτή, Deiktis Timon Katanaloti), is not the same measure as the HICP: in September 2026 the ΔΤΚ was 5.0% and the HICP 5.1%.21 Our analysis of September's figures explains the difference. ELSTAT's September release gave the contribution of each group and item to the total, which the flash estimate does not.2
Eurostat will publish full HICP data for October 2026, for the euro area and every member state, on 18 November 2026.1
What we checked
Highlights from our fact-check against the original Greek documents. Every claim in the article went through the same check.
- Confirmed
Capital.gr headlined on 4 November 2026 that inflation in Greece rose further, to 5.6% in October, and to 4% in the euro area («Ακόμα υψηλότερα ο πληθωρισμός στην Ελλάδα στο 5,6% τον Οκτώβριο - Άνοδος στο 4% και στην Ευρωζώνη») 9.
Eurostat's flash estimate gives 5.6% for Greece in October 2026, up from 5.1%, and 4.0% for the euro area, up from 3.8% 1.
- Confirmed
Newmoney.gr reported on 4 November 2026 that Greek inflation «σκαρφάλωσε» to 5.6% in October 2026 from 5.1% in September, third behind Lithuania (6.1%) and Bulgaria (6%) and level with Italy 10.
Eurostat's flash table gives Greece an estimated 5.6% for October 2026 and 5.1% for September, with Italy also at 5.6%, Lithuania at 6.1% and Bulgaria at 6.0% 1.
What we don't know yet
- What drove Greece's rise to 5.6% in October 2026. Eurostat's flash estimate gives only the headline rate for each country; ELSTAT's release of 10 November 2026 should give the breakdown by group and item.
- What ELSTAT's national consumer price index (ΔΤΚ) shows for October 2026. In September 2026 it was 5.0%, against 5.1% on the harmonised index; the October figure is due on 10 November 2026.
- Whether the 40-cent-a-litre heating-oil discount, which began on 15 October 2026, held down the October figure, and by how much.
- Whether Eurostat will revise the 5.6% estimate when it publishes full data for October 2026 on 18 November 2026.
Sources
- Eurostat · Euro area annual inflation up to 4.0% (flash estimate, October 2026) · 4 November 2026 · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Hellenic Statistical Authority) · ΔΕΙΚΤΗΣ ΤΙΜΩΝ ΚΑΤΑΝΑΛΩΤΗ: Σεπτέμβριος 2026, ετήσιος πληθωρισμός 5,0% · 9 October 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- ΕΛΣΤΑΤ (Ελληνική Στατιστική Αρχή, Hellenic Statistical Authority) · Release calendar · 1 November 2026 · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- ΔΕΗ (PPC) · Γ1/Γ1Ν Home (November 2026 prices, checked 2 November 2026; October 2026 prices as checked in October) · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- Capital.gr · ΔΕΗ: Στα 16,9 λεπτά το πράσινο τιμολόγιο Νοεμβρίου – Νέο σταθερό μπλε στα 13 λεπτά η κιλοβατώρα · 1 November 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- Energymag · Η ΔΕΗ απορροφά το σοκ της χονδρικής (αύξηση 26% στην αγορά, 6,2% στο πράσινο) · 1 November 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- Ministry of National Economy and Finance and Ministry of Environment and Energy, joint announcement (minfin.gov.gr) · Μείωση 40 λεπτά στο πετρέλαιο θέρμανσης, 20 λεπτά στο diesel κίνησης, 10 λεπτά στην αμόλυβδη και αύξηση 30% στο επίδομα θέρμανσης · 14 October 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗
- Ministry of National Economy and Finance and Ministry of Environment and Energy, joint announcement (minfin.gov.gr) · Επεκτείνεται η επιδότηση καυσίμων για την περίοδο 1 έως 15 Νοεμβρίου 2026 – Κοινή ανακοίνωση των Υπουργείων Εθνικής Οικονομίας και Οικονομικών και Περιβάλλοντος και Ενέργειας · 30 October 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗
- Capital.gr · Ακόμα υψηλότερα ο πληθωρισμός στην Ελλάδα στο 5,6% τον Οκτώβριο - Άνοδος στο 4% και στην Ευρωζώνη · 4 November 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗ · Archived copy
- newmoney.gr · Eurostat: Στο 5,6% εκτινάχθηκε ο πληθωρισμός στην Ελλάδα τον Οκτώβριο – Στο 4% στην ευρωζώνη · 4 November 2026 · in Greek · Open ↗ · Archived copy
Every figure in the text links to its source. Our own calculations are marked as such. Translations from Greek are ours. Archived copies are snapshots saved on the Internet Archive when we published.
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