Brussels, 17/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Euro area annual inflation was 1.9% in December 2006, unchanged compared to November, and lower than the previous year's rate of 2.2%. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. In the EU25, monthly inflation stood at 0.4%, unchanged compared to rates in November and December 2005. Annual inflation rose in fifteen Member States, remained stable in four and fell in five. The lowest annual rates were observed in Malta (0.8%), Finland (1.2%), Germany, Poland and Sweden (1.4% each), and the highest rates in Latvia (6.8%), Hungary (6.6%) and Estonia (5.1%). The main components with the highest annual rates in December 2006 were housing (3.6%), education (3.5%) and alcohol and tobacco (3.1%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-2.3%), recreation and culture (0.0%) and clothing (0.9%). Gas (+0.13 percentage points) had the largest upward impact on the headline rate, followed by restaurants and cafés, electricity and vegetables (+0.07 each), while telecommunications (-0.13) and fuels for transport (-0.10) had the biggest downward impacts. (ab)