FRANKFURT: German consumer prices hit a 29-year high in November, preliminary data showed Monday, as soaring energy costs and supply chain bottlenecks weigh on Europe’s top economy.

The annual inflation rate rose to 5.2 percent, accelerating for the fifth month in a row, with the surge partially driven by a 22-percent jump in energy prices, federal statistics agency Destatis said. In October, prices had climbed by 4.5 percent year-on-year.

Germany’s Bundesbank central bank said earlier this month that German inflation could spike to just under six percent this year. The higher cost-of-living is being experienced across the eurozone at the moment, putting pressure on the European Central Bank to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy.

The ECB has so far insisted that the inflation surge in the 19-nation zone is transitory, and is wary of acting too soon and potentially stifling the pandemic recovery. But Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, who is stepping down at the end of the year, has warned that the price hikes could last longer than expected.