Annual inflation in the euro area was 0.8 percent in December last year, down from 0.9 percent recorded in November, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In December 2012, the annual inflation rate was 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation was 0.3 percent in December last year.
Meanwhile, in the European Union (EU-28) annual inflation was 1.0 percent in December, stable compared with November. In December 2012, the annual inflation rate in the EU-27 was 2.3 percent, while the monthly inflation was 0.3 percent in December 2013.
In December last year, annual inflation in the EU-28 fell in nine states, remained stable in four and increased in 14 states as compared with November. The lowest annual inflation rates were observed in Greece (-1.8%), Cyprus (-1.3%), Bulgaria (-0.9%) and Latvia (-0.4%), while the highest were observed in Estonia, Austria and the UK (all 2.0%) and Finland (1.9%).
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of December last year were registered in Greece (-0.9%), Latvia (0.0%) and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Portugal and Sweden (all 0.4%), while the highest were seen in Romania and Estonia (both 3.2%) and the Netherlands and the UK (both with 2.6%).