Annual inflation in the euro area was 0.5 percent in March this year, down from 0.7 percent in February, according to a report released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. In March 2013, the annual inflation rate was 1.7 percent. Meanwhile, monthly inflation in the euro area was 0.9 percent in March this year.
Meanwhile, in the European Union (EU-28) annual inflation was 0.6 percent in March, down from 0.8 percent in February. In March 2013, the annual inflation rate in the EU-27 was 1.9 percent, while the monthly inflation rate in the EU-28 was 0.7 percent in March of the current year.
In March this year, annual inflation in the EU-28 fell in 19 states, remained stable in three and increased in six states as compared with February. The lowest annual inflation rates were observed in Bulgaria (-2.0%), Greece (-1.5%), Cyprus (-0.9%), Portugal and Sweden (both -0.4%), Spain and Slovakia (both -0.2%) and Croatia (-0.1%), while the highest were observed in the UK (1.6%), Malta and Austria (both 1.4%).
The lowest 12-month averages up to the end of March this year were registered in Greece (-1.2%), Bulgaria (-0.6%) and Cyprus (-0.3%), while the highest were seen in Estonia (2.6%), Romania and the UK (2.3%) and Finland (2.0%).