17/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - Under the effect of oil prices, inflation in the euro zone climbed 0.3% between September and October 2004, from 2.1% to 2.4%. At the same period in 2003, the rate was 2%. This figure is slightly below the initial Eurostat estimate, which, end October, forecast a rate of 2.5%. In the EU25, the annual rate of inflation reached 2.3% in October 2004, compared to 2.1% in September and 1.9% one year earlier. The highest annual rates concerned health (8.2%) and alcoholic drinks and tobacco (7.1%). The greatest upward impact on the overall rate was recorded for transport fuel (+0.45 of percentage point), followed by tobacco and liquid fuels (+0.22 each). The areas which had the greatest impact on the rise in the October monthly rates are clothing (+0.13 point) and transport fuel (+0.11).