Luxembourg, 01/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - Inflation in the euro zone dropped from2.6% in December last to 2.4% in January (data for January take account of Greece's entry into the zone), says Eurostat in a communiqué. One year before, inflation stood at 1.9%. As for Europe of the Fifteen, it fell from 2.3% in December last to 2.2% in January. In annual terms, inflation has increased in four EU Member States, fallen in eight and remained stable in three. The highest annual rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.5%), Portugal (4.4%) and Ireland (3.9%); the lowest rates were in the United Kingdom (0.9%), France (1.4%) and Sweden (1.6%). Compared to January 2000, the steepest rises were recorded in the Netherlands (from 1.6% to 4.5%) and Portugal (1.9% to 4.4%) and the steepest falls were in Denmark (from 2.8% to 2.3%) and France (1.7% to 1.4%). As a comparison, Eurostat states that annual inflation went from 1.5% to 1.3% in Switzerland and from 3.4% to 3.7% in the United States.