17 January 2012
By Adam Cadle
Inflation in the euro area has fallen to 2.7% for December 2011 down from the 3.0% figure recorded in November, Eurostat has revealed.
According to new figures, EU annual inflation also dropped from 3.4% in November to 3.0% in December. The lowest annual rates occurred in Sweden (0.4%), Malta (1.3%) and Bulgaria (2.0%) and the highest rates were recorded in Slovakia, Poland and Cyprus at rates of 4.6%, 4.5% and 4.2% respectively.
Overall annual inflation fell in 21 EU member states, remained stable in two and rose in two.
Concerning the euro area, the areas with the highest annual rates were in housing (4.9%), transport (4.3%) and alcohol and tobacco (3.8%). In comparison, lowest annual rates were recorded in communications (-1.9%), recreation and culture (0.6%) and education (0.9%).
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