The annual inflation rate in the euro area stood at 1.3% in March 2021, compared with 0.9% in February, according to data published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 16 April.
In the EU, inflation was 1.7% in March, compared with 1.3% in February.
The lowest rates were observed in Greece (-2.0%), Portugal, Malta, Ireland and Slovenia (0.1% each). The highest rates were recorded in Poland (4.4%), Hungary (3.9%), Romania and Luxembourg (both 2.5%). Price inflation was 2.0% in Germany, 1.4% in France, 1.2% in Spain and 0.6% in Italy.
In March, the largest contributions to annual inflation in the euro area came from services (+0.57 percentage points, pp), followed by energy (+0.43 pp), food, alcohol & tobacco (+0.24 pp) and non-energy industrial goods (+0.09 pp).
This surge in inflation will feed into the ECB’s thinking about its highly accommodative monetary policy in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Governing Council due to meet on Thursday 22 April. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)