Annual inflation in the euro zone rose for a third straight month to reach 2.4% in December, statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday. The preliminary reading was in line with the forecast of economists polled by Reuters and marked an increase from a revised 2.

German annual inflation rose more than forecast in December due to higher food prices and a smaller drop in energy prices than in previous months, preliminary data from the federal statistics office showed on Monday.

Consumer prices were 2.6% higher in December than the same month of 2023, marking a third-straight month of rising inflation and potentially complicating policymakers’ interest-rate decisions.