Brussels, 27/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - According to a rapid estimate published on Friday by Eurostat, the annual rate of inflation of the euro zone was 1.6% in February 2004 compared to 1.9% in January of the previous year. The same day, Eurostat published revised data on the rate of inflation in January 2004 which confirms that the annual euro zone inflation rate fell from 2.0% in December 2003 to 1.9% in January 2004. The annual EU15 inflation rate remained stable at 1.8% in January 2004.
In January 2004, the highest annual rates were recorded in Greece (3.1%), Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg (2.3% each), while the lowest were in Finland (0.8%), Denmark (1.0%) and Austria (1.2%). Inflation rose to 2.2% in France and Italy, 1.4% in the United Kingdom and 1.2% in Germany. Compared to the month of January 2003, the largest falls were noted in Denmark (from 2.6% to 1.0%), Ireland (from 4.7% to 2.3%) and Sweden (from 2.6% to 1.3%). The biggest increases concerned Germany (from 0.9% to 1.3%), France (from 1.9% to 2.2%) and Belgium (from 1.2% to 1.4%).