08/01/2020 (Agence Europe) – Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.3% in December 2019, up from 1.0% in November, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Tuesday 7 January. Among countries for which data are available, the highest price increases were registered in Slovakia (3.2%), the Netherlands (2.8%), Lithuania (2.7%) and Latvia (2.1%). It was lowest in Portugal (0.4%), Italy (0.5%), Cyprus (0.7%) and Spain (0.8%). In Germany and France annual inflation was 1.5% and 1.6% respectively. Among the main components of inflation, food, alcohol and tobacco are expected to be the highest annual rate in December (2.0%), followed by services (1.8%), industrial goods excluding energy (0.4%) and energy (0.2%). (MB)