Euro area annual inflation was 1.8% in February 2007, unchanged compared with January. A year earlier the rate was 2.3%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in February 2007. EU3 annual inflation was 2.1% in February 2007, unchanged compared with January. A year earlier the rate was 2.2%. Monthly inflation was 0.3% in February 2007.
These figures come from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.
Inflation in the EU Member States
In February 2007, the lowest annual rates were observed in Malta (0.8%), France, Cyprus and Finland (all 1.2%), and the highest rates in Hungary (9.0%), Latvia (7.2%), Bulgaria and Estonia (both 4.6%). Compared with January, annual inflation rose in thirteen Member States, remained stable in one and fell in twelve.
The lowest 12-month averages4 up to February 2007 were in Finland (1.3%), Poland (1.4%), the Netherlands and Sweden (1.6% each); the highest were in Bulgaria (6.9%), Latvia (6.6%) and Romania (5.8%).
Euro area
The main components with the highest annual rates in February 2007 were alcohol & tobacco (4.1%), education (3.3%) and housing (3.1%), while the lowest annual rates were observed for communications (-1.7%), recreation & culture (0.2%) and transport (1.0%). Concerning the detailed sub-indices, restaurants & cafés and tobacco (+0.10 percentage points each) had the largest upward impacts on the headline rate, while fuels for transport (-0.22) and telecommunications (-0.11) had the biggest downward impacts.
The main components with the highest monthly rates were recreation & culture (1.0%), health and hotels & restaurants (0.6% each) and the lowest were food (-0.2%) and communications (-0.1%). In particular, package holidays (+0.07 percentage points) and accommodation services (+0.03) had the largest upward impacts, while fish, vegetables and meat (-0.02 each) had the biggest downward impacts.