In June 2020, a month in which many of the containment measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic were gradually lifted, the annual inflation rate in the euro area stood at 0.3%, up from 0.1% in May, according to data published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 17 July.
In the European Union, prices rose by 0.8% in June, compared with 0.6% in May.
The lowest annual rates were recorded in Cyprus (-2.2%), Greece (-1.9%) and Estonia (-1.6%). Inflation was negative in ten Member States, including Italy (-0.4%) and Spain (-0.3%).
The highest annual rates were recorded in Poland (3.8%), the Czech Republic (3.4%) and Hungary (2.9%). Price increases were low in France (0.2%) and moderate in Germany (0.8%).
Compared with May, annual inflation fell in seven Member States and rose in twenty.
The biggest contributions to annual inflation in the euro area came from food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.60%), followed by services (+0.55%), non-energy industrial goods (+0.05%) and energy (-0.93%).
On Thursday, the European Central Bank did not make any changes to its monetary policy, which continues to be highly accommodating. The policy has been expanded since March, when the PEPP operation was launched to purchase large volumes of mainly public sector securities in order to counter the risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12529/6). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)