The euro zone inflation accelerated to a hotter-than-expected 2.5% in January on an annual basis as energy costs jumped, flash data from statistics agency Eurostat showed Monday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the January inflation print to come in at 2.4%, unchanged from December.

So-called core inflation, which strips out food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices, came in at 2.7% in January and has remained unchanged since September. The closely watched services inflation print meanwhile inched lower to 3.9% in January from 4% in December.

Energy costs however jumped, rising 1.8% from a year earlier. This was up sharply from December’s 0.1% increase.