Brussels, 17/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to the estimates published on Wednesday by Eurostat, the annual rate of inflation in the euro-zone fell from 2.7% in August to 2.5% in September 2001, compared to 2.8% one year earlier. The annual rate of inflation for the whole of the European Union (EU15) also fell from 2.6% in August to 2.4% in September, against 2.5% in September 2000. The highest annual rates in September were recorded in the Netherlands (5.4%), Portugal (4.1%), and Greece 54.0%). The lowest were in the United Kingdom (1.3%), France (1.6%), Belgium and Luxembourg (1.9% each). Compared to August 2001, the annual rate of inflation increased in four Member States (Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden) and remained unchanged in Greece and Austria. The countries that recorded the largest falls over this period are: Belgium (from 2.5% in August to 1.9% in September), Germany (from 2.6% to 2.1%), France (2.0% to 1.6%), Luxembourg (2.5% to 1.9%), Denmark (2.5% to 2.1%), the United Kingdom (1.8% to 1.3%) and Spain (3.8% to 3.4%).
Compared to September 2000, the steepest relative rises were in Sweden (from 1.3% to 3.3%), the Netherlands (2.9% to 5.4%), Greece (3.0% to 4.0%), and the steepest falls were in Luxembourg (4.2% to 1.9%), Belgium (3.9% to 1.9%), Ireland (5.5% to 3.8%). The lowest average rates over twelve months (measure less sensitive to passing price changes) were recorded in the United Kingdom (1.2%), France (1.9%) and Sweden (2.3%), the highest in the Netherlands (4.6%), Ireland (4.4%) and Portugal (4.3%).