Luxembourg, 19/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat, the annual inflation rate of the euro-zone was 2.6% in March, the same rate as that recorded in February. One year earlier it was 2.1%. The same trend can be seen in the European Union (EU15), where the annual inflation rate was 2.3% in March, unchanged compared to February (while it was 1.9% in March 2000). The rate of inflation of the European Economic Area (EEA) also remained stable in March, at 2.3%.
During March, the highest annual rates were recorded in Portugal (5.1%), the Netherlands (4.9%), and in Ireland (4.1%), while the lowest were in France (1.4%), Sweden (1.7%) and Austria (1.9%). Compared to February 2001, annual inflation increased in five Member States, fell in five others and remained stable elsewhere. Compared to March 2000, the biggest relative rises were in Portugal (from 1.4% to 5.1%) and in the Netherlands (from 1.6% to 4.9%), and the largest relative falls were in Denmark (from 3.0% to 2.2%) and in Finland (from 3.2% to 2.5%). Over twelve months (including March 2001), the average lowest rates were recorded in Sweden (1.4%), France (1.8%) and Austria (2.0%), and the highest were in Ireland (5.1%), Luxembourg (3.8%) and Spain (3.7%).
Eurostat notes moreover that annual inflation rose from 0.8% to 1% in Switzerland and fell from 3.5% to 2.9% in the United States.