03/02/2021 (Agence Europe) – Annual inflation in the euro area is estimated at 0.9% in January 2021, compared with -0.3% in December, according to a flash estimate published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Wednesday 3 February. Among the 17 countries for which data are available, the lowest rates were observed in Greece (-2.3%), Cyprus (-0.6%) and Latvia (-0.5%), while the highest rates were recorded in the Netherlands (1.7%), Germany (1.6%) and Luxembourg (1.0%). Inflation was 0.8% in France, 0.6% in Spain and 0.5% in Italy. Among the main drivers of euro area inflation, food, alcohol and tobacco are expected to have the highest annual rate in January (1.5%), followed by services (1.4%), non-energy industrial goods (1.4%) and energy (-4.1%). (MB)