EU: Annual inflation down in August

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Consumer prices in the European Union rose 2.1 percent on a yearly basis in August, the EU's statistical office reported on Monday.

Eurostat said the 28-member bloc's annual inflation rate fell 0.1 percentage points last month, compared to 2.2 percent in July.

"A year earlier, the rate was 1.7 percent," it noted.

Among all member countries, the lowest annual rates were seen in Denmark (0.8 percent), Ireland, and Greece, with 0.9 percent.

"The highest annual rates were recorded in Romania (4.7 percent), Bulgaria (3.7 percent), Estonia (3.5 percent) and Hungary (3.4 percent)," Eurostat said.

"Compared with July 2018, annual inflation fell in 12 member states, remained stable in five, and rose in 10," it added.

According to the official data, the United Kingdom's inflation figure for August has not been announced yet.

Eurostat also reported that the euro area annual inflation rate was 2.0 percent in August, down from 2.1 percent in the previous month, while it was 1.5 percent in August last year.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

"In August 2018, the highest contribution to the annual euro-area inflation rate came from energy (plus 0.87 percentage points)," the statistical office said.

Official figures found that the highest annual inflation in EA19 was seen in energy prices with 9.2 percent, and the lowest hike in consumer prices was seen in non-energy industrial goods of 0.4 percent.

Last month, food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose by 2.4 percent on a yearly basis, while the services sector saw a 1.3 percent annual inflation in the euro area.

Over the last decade, the highest annual inflation rate in the EU was seen in July 2008, up 4.4 percent. The lowest was in January 2015, at minus 0.5 percent, when prices were in fact dropping.