Annual inflation reached 1.5% and 1.6% in the euro area and the European Union in February, respectively, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the rates recorded the previous month (see EUROPE 12200/10), according to figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 15 March.
There was also an increase in this rate compared to February 2018, when it was 1.1% in the euro area and 1.4% in the European Union.
However, these overall rates hide significant disparities between the different Member States making up the EU. For example, the lowest annual inflation rates last month were recorded in Ireland (0.7%), Greece, Croatia and Cyprus (0.8%), while inflation was much higher in Latvia (2.8%), Hungary (3.2%) and Romania (4.0%).
In terms of the components of inflation, services contributed the most to price increases in the euro area between February 2018 and 2019, by 0.61 percentage points, followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (0.44 percentage points), energy (0.35 percentage points) and non-energy industrial goods (0.09 percentage points). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)