Inflation across eurozone hits record high of 4.9%

Inflation spike in November was largely the result of a huge spike in energy costs

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.

Records started being compiled two years before the actual launch of the euro in 1999, which fixed Europe's many currencies such as the French franc and the German deutschmark. In 2002, euro notes and coins first came into speculation.