Annual inflation in the European Union was 2.6 percent in December 2010, up from a revised 2.3 percent in November, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In December 2009 the annual inflation rate was registered as 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation was 0.6 percent in December this year.
In December 2010, the lowest annual rates were observed in Slovakia with 1.3 percent, in the Netherlands with 1.8 percent and in Germany and Cyprus with 1.9 percent, while the highest were seen in Romania with 7.9 percent, in Estonia with 5.4 percent and in Greece with 5.2 percent.
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of December 2010 were registered in Latvia -1.2 percent, in Slovakia at 0.7 percent and in the Netherlands at 0.9 percent, while the highest were recorded in Romania at 6.1 percent, and in Hungary and Greece at 4.7 percent.