The euro area annual inflation rate stood at 1.1% in December 2016, compared to 0.6% in November, according to data published by the statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Wednesday 18 January.
In the European Union as a whole, inflation rose to 1.2%, from 0.6% in November.
In December, negative annual rates were recorded in Bulgaria (-0.5%) and Romania (-0.1%). Price increases were low in Greece (0.3%) and Italy (0.5%), average in France (0.8%) and high in Spain (1.4%), the United Kingdom (1.6%) and Germany (1.7%). The highest annual inflation rates were observed in Estonia (2.4%), Belgium (2.2%) and the Czech Republic and Latvia (2.1% each).
Compared to November 2016, the annual inflation rate fell in one member state and increased in 26 others. The largest upward impacts to eurozone inflation came from fuels for transport (+0.21%), vegetables (+0.07%) and heating oil (+0.05%), whilst gas (-0.1%), telecommunications (-0.05%) and personal care products (-0.04%) had the biggest downward impact.
The Governing Council of the ECB will meet in Frankfurt this Thursday to take stock of the accommodative monetary policy measures, such as the 'quantitative easing' operation for the mass buyback of securities, mainly public ones, set in place to comply with the inflation target laid down at a level of less than but close to 2%. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)