Brussels, 27/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - Eurostat revealed on Friday 27 February that the annual rate of inflation in the euro area was 1.1% in January 2009, compared with 1.6% in December 2008. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. Monthly inflation was -0.8% in January 2009. EU annual inflation was 1.7% in January 2009, down from 2.2% in December. A year earlier the rate was 3.4%. Monthly inflation was -0.6% in January 2009. In January 2009, the lowest annual rates were observed in Luxembourg (0.0%), Portugal (0.1%), Spain and France (0.8% each), and the highest in Latvia (9.7%), Lithuania (9.5%) and Romania (6.8%). Compared with December 2008, annual inflation fell in twenty-four member states, remained stable in one and rose in two. (L.C./transl.rt)