23/08/23 (Agence Europe) – Annual inflation in the euro area was 5.3% in July, compared with 5.5% the previous month, according to figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Friday 18 August. In the EU, it was 6.1%, compared with 6.4% in June. The lowest annual rates were observed in Belgium (1.7%), Luxembourg (2.0%) and Spain (2.1%). The highest rates were recorded in Hungary (17.5%), Slovakia and Poland (both 10.3%). Inflation was 5.1% in France, 6.3% in Italy and 6.5% in Germany. In July, the highest contributions to price inflation in the euro area came from services (+2.47 percentage points, pp), followed by food, alcohol and tobacco (+2.20 pp), industrial goods excluding energy (+1.26 pp) and energy (-0.62 pp). (MB)