Annual inflation in the European Union was 2.6 percent in January this year, down from a revised 2.7 percent in December, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In January 2011, the annual inflation rate was registered as 2.3 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation was -0.8 percent in January 2012.
In January, the lowest annual inflation rates in the European Union were observed in Sweden with 0.7 percent, in Ireland with 1.3 percent and in Malta with 1.5 percent, while the highest were seen in Hungary with 5.6 percent, in Estonia with 4.7 percent and in Poland and Slovakia both with 4.1 percent.
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of January 2012 were registered in Ireland and Sweden both at 1.3 percent, and in Slovenia at 2.1 percent, while the highest were recorded in Romania at 5.5 percent, in Estonia at five percent and in the UK with 4.4 percent.