The annual inflation rate in the euro area rose slightly in April to seven percent after five months of decline. This was quickly estimated today by Eurostat, the statistical office. Growth by a tenth of a percentage point compared to March is in line with analysts’ expectations. As in previous months, the main contributor to inflation was the increase in food prices.
Last April, prices in countries that use the common currency rose by 7.4 percent year-on-year.
In the food, alcohol and tobacco categories, inflation fell to 13.6 percent from 15.5 percent in March. However, it was still significantly higher than for non-energy industrial goods (6.2 percent) and services (5.2 percent).Energy prices, which contributed very strongly to last year’s record inflation, returned to growth after falling by 0.9 percent in March. It was 2.5 percent.
Month-on-month, prices in the euro area increased by 0.7 percent. The quick estimate does not include data for the entire European Union, which will be published by the Authority in mid-May.
The countries with the highest inflation of the twenty Eurozone countries continue to be the Baltic States – Latvia (15 per cent), Lithuania (13.2 per cent) and Estonia (13.1 per cent). However, Slovakia (14 percent) was among them in April, where inflation is falling more slowly than in the three Baltic countries.
Inflation in Germany dropped to 7.6 %
The lowest price growth in April was recorded in Luxembourg (2.7 percent) and Belgium (3.3 percent). In Germany, which has Europe’s largest economy, inflation fell by two-tenths of a point to 7.6 percent.
The long-term goal of the European Central Bank (ECB) is to bring inflation closer to the two percent mark. The ECB is expected to raise interest rates again this week.
Source: CTK
