Hungarian inflation rose to a 25-year high of 22.5 percent in November year-over-year, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Thursday.
This was the highest figure recorded since 1997, the third year of an austerity program initiated by the then socialist government to counter the negative effects of a fast, poorly executed privatization program.
Although the headline figure was high enough in itself, domestic energy showed the highest spike of 65.9 percent, with household gas prices up 124.3 percent, firewood up 60.1 percent, and electricity up 28.3 percent.
Food prices also rose at a steep rate of 43.8 percent, within which the price of eggs rose 102.9 percent; bread, 81.8 percent; and butter, 77.3 percent.
KSH also measures inflation separately for pensioners, which was recorded at 14.1 percent in November year-over-year compared with the general household inflation of 13.8 percent.
The high figure propelled Hungary to the top of the European Union, followed by the three Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
The lowest inflationary rates in the EU in November were registered in Malta, France, and Spain, all of which remain in the single digits.
