Euro area annual inflation was 3.6% in September 2008, down from 3.8% in August. A year earlier the rate was 2.1%. Monthly inflation was 0.2% in September 2008.

EU annual inflation was 4.2% in September 2008, down from 4.3% in August. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in September 2008.

Inflation in the EU Member States

In September 2008, the lowest annual rates were observed in the Netherlands (2.8%), Germany (3.0%), Ireland and Portugal (both 3.2%), and the highest in Latvia (14.7%), Bulgaria (11.4%) and Lithuania (11.3%), Malta stood at 4.9%. Compared with August 2008, annual inflation fell in seventeen Member States, remained stable in two and rose in eight.

The lowest 12-month averages up to September 2008 were registered in the Netherlands (2.1%), Portugal (2.9%) and Germany (3.1%), and the highest in Latvia (15.8%), Bulgaria (12.6%), Estonia and Lithuania (both 10.8%), Malta stood at 4%.

Euro area

The main components with the highest annual rates in September 2008 were housing (6.2%), transport (5.8%) and food (5.7%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-2.6%), recreation & culture (0.1%) and clothing (0.7%).

Concerning the detailed sub-indices, fuels for transport (+0.44 percentage points), heating oil (+0.24), gas (+0.20) and milk, cheese & eggs (+0.15) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while telecommunications (-0.20) and garments (-0.15) had the biggest downward impacts.

The main components with the highest monthly rates were clothing (6.5%), education (0.8%) and household equipment (0.5%), and the lowest were recreation & culture and hotels & restaurants (both -1.1%) and transport.

(-0.6%). In particular, garments (+0.32 percentage points) and footwear (+0.08) had the largest upward impacts, while accommodation services (-0.14), package holidays (-0.12), fuels for transport and air transport (-0.07 each) had the biggest downward impacts.

Permalink: Euro area annual inflation down to 3.6% and EU down to 4.2%