In January, inflation in the eurozone soared to a new record high, according to official data, adding pressure on the European Central Bank ahead of a monetary policy meeting this week.
The figure hit 5.1 percent last month, a first since the official Eurostat agency began to compile the data in 1997.
The European Central Bank has a medium-term inflation target of two percent.
The board meets on Thursday and observers expect the European Central Bank to stick to its current rates, which are historically low in the wake of the coronaviruses epidemic.
Any tightening could threaten the economic recovery, and weigh on indebted companies and governments.
In January's inflation data supports our view that the ECB will forecast inflation over the medium term, according to Capital Economics, according to the latest data.
It said that policymakers are going to end net asset purchases this year and prepare to raise interest rates in early 2023, if not sooner.
The European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde has insisted that inflationary pressure is transitory and should be averted over the course of the year. She says the sudden bounceback of economies from Covid restrictions has caused the energy price to go up.
In December, inflation had hit a new record five percent.
In January, energy contributed for 28.6 percent of the eurozone's inflation surge, according to Eurostat. Its weight has grown since December, when it was 25.9 percent of the overall price jump.
Services jumped 2.4 percent, while food, alcohol and tobacco accounted for 3.6 percent, an increase over the previous month.
In January, inflation for non-energy industrial goods rose 2.3 percent, a decline of 2.3 percent from December, compared to the 2.9 percent seen in December.
Inflation is increasing in the euro zone, as businesses try to jump back into pre-pandemic mode, as well as facing supply constraints and sudden demand for energy in other economies around the world.
The EU is faced with other variables that are weighing on its energy market.
There are rising tensions with Russia's main natural gas supplier over Ukraine in the short-term.
There is a transition towards a net carbon-zero future that will require shifting from fossil fuel sources to renewable ones over the long term.