Brussels, 23/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Communities' Statistical Office, Eurostat, states that annual inflation in the euro zone amounted to 2.1% in December 2001, unchanged on November. This rate, on the other hand, rose for the EU as a whole, going from 1.8% in November to 2.0% in December. By Member States, Eurostat notes that the highest rates were recorded in the Netherlands (5.1%), Ireland (4.4%) and Portugal 3.9%). The lowest rates were recorded in Luxembourg (0.9%), the United Kingdom (1.0%) and France (1.4%). Compared to the previous months, the Statistical Office states that inflation fell in three Member States (Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal), remained unchanged in two (Germany and Italy) and increased in ten. The highest rises were in Sweden (from 1.3% to 3.2%) and the Netherlands (2.9% to 5.1%), whereas the steepest falls were recorded in Luxembourg (4.2% to 0.9%), Germany (2.3% to 1.5%) and Belgium (3.0% to 2.0%). Over the twelve months of 2001, the lowest average rates were recorded in the United Kingdom (1.2%), France (1.8%) and Denmark and Austria (2.3% each), whereas the highest average rates were observed in the Netherlands (5.1%), Portugal (4.4%) and Ireland (4.0%).