BRUSSELS (AP) — Official figures show that consumer prices across the 19 countries that use the euro currency are rising at a record rate.

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, said Tuesday that the eurozone's annual inflation rate hit 4.9% in November, the highest since records began in 1997.

It was largely as a result of a huge spike in energy costs and up from 4.1% the previous month, which was the previous record high.

Like others, the eurozone, which is made up of 19 economies including France and Germany, is enduring big price hikes as a result of the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and blockages in supply chains.