Eurostat: Euro area annual inflation up to 1.4%; EU up to 1.9%

Euro area1 annual inflation was 1.4% in March 20102, up from 0.9% in February. A year earlier the rate was 0.6%. Monthly inflation was 0.9% in March 2010. EU3 annual inflation was 1.9% in March 2010, up from 1.5% in February. A year earlier the rate was 1.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.7% in March 2010. These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Inflation in the EU Member States In March 2010, the lowest annual rates were observed in Latvia (-4.0%), Ireland (-2.4%) and Lithuania (-0.4%), and the highest in Hungary (5.7%), Romania (4.2%) and Greece (3.9%). Compared with February 2010, annual inflation fell in five Member States, remained stable in two and rose in nineteen. The lowest 12-month averages4 up to March 2010 were registered in Ireland (-2.3%), Portugal (-0.8%) and Estonia (-0.7%), and the highest in Romania (5.0%), Hungary (4.8%) and Poland (3.9%).
 
Euro area

The main components with the highest annual rates in March 2010 were transport (6.1%), alcohol & tobacco (4.0%), miscellaneous goods and services as well as education (both 1.8%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for food (-0.6%), communications (-0.3%) and clothing (-0.1%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.76 percentage points), heating oil (+0.19) and tobacco (+0.10) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while gas (-0.30) and cars (-0.10) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (7.6%), transport (1.5%), housing and household equipment (both 0.5%), while the lowest were health and education (both 0.0%), alcohol & tobacco, communications, recreation & culture and hotels & restaurants (all 0.1%). In particular, garments (+0.35 percentage points), fuels for transport (+0.16) and footwear (+0.06) had the largest upward impacts, while restaurants & caf's and rents (-0.05 each) and meat (-0.04) had the biggest downward impacts.