Brussels, 16/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - According to figures published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, on Wednesday 16 April, Euro area1 annual inflation was 3.6% in March 20082, up from 3.3% in February. A year earlier the rate was 1.9%. Monthly inflation was 1.0% in March 2008. Annual inflation in the EU27 was 3.8% in March 2008, up from 3.5% in February. A year earlier the rate was 2.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.8% in March 2008. In its first estimate published at the end of March, Eurostat estimate prices rises at 3.5% in the Euro zone, which was already a record after the 3.3% rate in February and 3.2% in January. In March 2008, the lowest annual rates were observed in the Netherlands (1.9%), the United Kingdom (2.5%) and Portugal (3.1%), and the highest in Latvia (16.6%), Bulgaria (13.2%) and Lithuania (11.4%). Compared with February 2008, annual inflation rose in eighteen Member States, remained stable in three and fell in six. The lowest 12-month averages4 up to March 2008 were registered in Malta (1.5%), the Netherlands (1.7%), Denmark and Sweden (2.0% each), and the highest in Latvia (12.3%), Bulgaria (9.4%) and Estonia (8.3%).
Eurostat illustrates that the highest inflation rate rises overall in Mach were for transport fuel, liquid fuels, milk, cheese and eggs, as well as bread and cereals. (L.C.)